Little Wing It!
by Ryuumaru Chunchunmaru
Summary: A snarky teenage beastman, a lazy prodigy girl, a naive tribesboy, and a redhead with growth issues. When an ancient civilization plots to hijack the Gurhal system's population, it's up to this group of youths to stop it. What could possibly go wrong?
1. Volume 1 Prologue

**Hello everybody! Thanks for taking the time to check this lil' story of mine out!**

 **As of 4/10/19, this chapter has been edited for a better reading experience.**

 **Hope you enjoy and stick around! Don't hesitate to leave a review! They really help me out and make my day!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Volume 1 Cover Image:

drive@google@com/file/d/1-nbiLuS_ixtJXsHYTff27BSvxw-3P2OT/view?usp=drivesdk

(Replace the @'s with dots.)

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 1

The Holy Light's Blessings On This Wonderful System!

 **Prologue**

 **ooo000ooo**

"This site must have a hot shot sponsor to bring out this many people. There's money to be made."

I heard someone say from behind me.

It was a CAST with black helmet and armor.

CASTs are a race of humanoid robots that can think, act, and live exactly like a human can.

Anyway.

I heard some people discovered a new relic site some time ago and I decided to check it out.

Life as a freelance mercenary can be hard at times so I gotta take whatever opportunity I can get to keep myself afloat.

"You look like a mercenary yourself."

The CAST speaking to me observed for himself, obviously spotting my mercenary gear.

I nodded at him to affirm his statement.

I've never been one to talk much.

"Not with any company though, are ya? Freelance? That's impressive."

Pretty observant, he is.

"This place is bound to draw the best. Just recently discovered, you see. Mostly unexplored as well."

He sure likes to talk, though.

But he _does_ have a point. This place has lots of loot that can be sold for some nice amounts of money since it's mostly untouched.

And of course, extermination requests for the hostile residents.

Monsters, if you will.

"Name's Vasque. Freelance mercenary as well."

"Kara. Kara Draken."

I responded in kind so as to not be rude.

But the moment I did, Vasque's face turned into one that had a question, but then decided against it. So as to not be rude as well, I assume.

I think I know what he wanted to ask.

Everybody asks me _that_ certain question whenever I say my name.

"Can we go home now? Please?"

A voice, certainly not Vasque's, t'was like a screech, echoed throughout the imminent area.

I looked a bit around and it seemed to have been from a blond haired girl nearby.

What's a kid doing here?

It should be safe enough in this area but there are no promises further in.

"This is no place for children. And I'd wager she's no mercenary."

Vasque commented, looking like he's wondering where in the heck this kid's guardian was, if she had one, that is.

If that was the case, then that was one irresponsible guardian.

"This is a relic site! A _relic site_ , did you hear me!? Come _on_ , you can't make me _stay_ here!"

Oh dear holy light, what an annoying person.

Did she have to screech like that?

I'll keep those comments to myself, though. I don't like making a fuss.

On closer inspection, she seemed to be with a scruffy looking male beast.

"Feh. Remind me why I pay you."

Payment? Since there's payment involved, maybe she is a mercenary, after all?

That's a little... strange.

It's not uncommon to find young mercenaries but this person didn't strike me as the merc type. At all.

"Look, I'll go find some work for you to do. Just don't wander off, you hear me? Stay. Put."

The beast man left her there while she looked around looked like a lost kitten.

"Oh, man, what now? I don't like this place at all..."

She seemed to be looking for help but considering how her, what I assume to be, boss treated her, and the annoying way of talking...

I didn't want to get involved.

I know it's quite judgemental but everyone seemed to have the same idea.

I was about to bid farewell to Vasque and leave the area when the ground suddenly started shaking.

And of course, the people panicked.

"That doesn't sound good. C' mon, let"s bail."

Vasque said in a hurry, and I managed a quick nod before we started gunning for the exit.

Everyone was scrambling for the exit since it was closing. It was a stampede.

I started running for the exit but with all these people, I'm finding it a little hard to move any considerable distance further!

It was absolute chaos. Everyone was shouting, panicking, pushing each other. People were falling down and grabbing whatever they could.

This is the ugliness of humanity as a whole, no matter the race. You can preach equality, cooperation, unity, or whatever any day you want.

But at the slightest bit of trouble, it's every man for himself.

That's not a surprise to me anymore, though. As a mercenary, I've learned long ago that this was a dog eat dog universe.

And with my abysmally bad luck...

"Hey, watch it...!"

I shouted out in surprise as I felt a nasty shove from behind and I stumbled.

i was about to feel relieved that I was still standing but another push made me fall down flat on face.

And then I quickly learned that I couldn't stand up. Every time I tried, I would just get pushed down again.

God frickin' damn it.

After a while, the stampeding stopped, and the doors started closing.

The last thing I saw beyond the exit before it closed was Vasque looking worried and rushing back to me but before he could, the doors slammed shut.

Great, I'm stuck here. Of all the rotten...

"Open up will ya? Ugh, Come on! Let me out here!"

Huh?

A screechy voice echoed around the chamber along with a furious banging on the closed doors.

"Is this any way to treat somebody!? I know you can hear me! Open this tin can up!"

Oh no.

"Sigh~. I said we should go home but did he listen? Of course not."

It was the annoying blonde girl.

Seems like she got unlucky in making it out too. So now, I'm not just stuck in an unexplored relic site, I'm stuck with her too.

And so with that, I plopped my face back down on the cold hard ground.

It's amazing how fast karma strikes.


	2. V1 Ch1: Giving Me Emilia Reasons

**Leave a review! Please?**

\--

Little Wing It

Volume 1

The Holy Light's Blessings On This Wonderful System!

 **Chapter 1**

 **Giving Me Emilia Reasons**

\--

 **I**

\--

My name is Kara Draken. An 18 year old Beast Vanguard. Occupation: Freelance Mercenary.

I'm not a person who one would call a friendly face. And I can't exactly say I blame them.

For one, I'm not exactly Mr. Smiley Pants. Experts might say it causes less muscle stress to smile than it is to frown but it's not like I wear a permanent scowl.I'm just mostly disinterested in lots of things. My job is tiring enough that I just don't feel like getting involved in many stuff.

For another, it would probably be my eyes. They're a dark shade of crimson, and given enough level of darkness, they can give the illusion of a menacing glow. Not to mention that my pupils are slitted, not unlike those of felines and reptiles.

And along with the traditionally altered ears of beastkin, which in my case are reptilian ears, light skin tone and messy mop of white hair, I'm definitely not someone who you'd call "very approachable".

And my preference for dark colored clothing probably isn't helping matters also.

Not that I want it to. I'm perfectly fine with how things are. I just want to do my job peacefully, well, as peaceful as a mercenary job can get anyway. Stay out of my business and I'll keep away from yours.

\--

 **II**

\--

First thing I know, there was a newly discovered relic site and an opportunity to make some cash.

"Is no one going to open this stupid door already!?" Ugh!"

The next thing, I'm trapped inside said relic site along with a noisy blonde girl.

Quietly dusting off the dirt clinging on my clothes, I stood up from where I had gloriously fallen and chose to ignore the girl who was still banging on the shut doors.

She seems to be doing a good job of doing the same to me anyway.

I decided to examine the area to check if there's something that might open the doors or something similar.There weren't any, of course. Seems like the only choice is to go further into the ruins.

On that train of thought, a question popped up in my head.

What do I do with the girl?

Most likely, she won't survive alone inside here...

"Um, hello? Mr. white-haired guy? I'm kinda having a crisis over here..."

Oh, great, she finally noticed me. Well, I'm having a crisis of my own so I don't really want to bother myself with her.

"Hey! When a girl's troubled it's only polite to ask, you know?"

You're one to talk about politeness.

I wanted to respond with that but I had a feeling it'd only make things worse.

Instead, I settled with:

"You seem fine to me."

She didn't seem to like that response as well and slightly teared up.

Girls are so fickle.

But it did make me feel a little guilty

"Oooohhh... Chelsea always said tears are a girl's best weapon... So much for that theory."

Oh, alright, fine!

"Sorry."

I could swear I saw one of her eyes twitch in annoyance ever so slightly.

But it looks like this calmed her down a little

"Grr... Fine, but don't let it happen again!"

I managed to nod in response which seemed to placate her.

With that little fiasco over, I started to walk towards the deeper portion of the site.

"Hey, where're you going? It's not safe there!"

"I'm a mercenary."

I'm surprised the area isn't getting any darker. At least, not dramatically.

Come to think of it, I didn't notice any torches or artificial lights in tge first chamber earlier.

These stones that dot the cave's walls may be of the luminous variety. Interesting.

"So do you have any idea what the fuss earlier was all about?"

"None, whatsoever."

"Yeah, me neither. It all happened so fast. Next thing I knew, the place was empty."

I unanimously decided to not tell her why I couldn't get out in time and continued walking.

"Well, we have bigger problems to worry about, I guess. Talk's not getting us out of here."

I nodded.

And then I stopped walking.

"... why are you following me?"

I asked and in return, I got a look that said "what are you talking about?"

"Well, it's a relic site. Who knows what could be down there..."

Ah, so she's scared. Well I can't exactly blame her. There certainly are monsters further in. I can already see some of their trails and hear some quite unnatural sounds

"If you go off on your own, you could end up dead, you know? Or worse! So I'm coming with you!"

... is this kid for real? I already told her I'm a mercenary!

You know what? Whatever. If she wants to come along, I don't care. If she's this confident, she's probably a mercenary too.

I started waking again and sure enough, she continued tailing me.

"Oh, I don't think I caught your name before."

"Kara."

Silence.

And then I saw the most irritating expression I saw on a girl's face ever.

I'm just not gonna bother with this.

"Isn't... Isn't that...?"

Nope. Not me. Nu-uh.

"Isn't that a..."

I am a mature person. I will not be affected by a girl's childish taunts.

" ... a girl's name? Pfffttt! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Yes, I get that a lot. Can we move on?"

She laughed for a few more moments. After breathing in a little, she looked like she was gonna explode again but luckily, she managed to stop herself.

"Sorry about that. It's just... with your coolio attitude and emo get-up, and your name is Kara? Isn't that funny? Pfft!"

"Hilarious, I'm sure."

After a few more seconds, she finally managed to be calm and stay that way

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you, K-Kara. I'm Emilia. Emilia Percival."

Emilia Percival, huh?

"Like it or not, we're in this together."

She told me while wearing a gentle smile.

If she just shut up and smiled like this, then she doesn't look that bad.

She's actually pretty cute.

But like Emilia said, we're in this together, and I don't like it.

Not. One. Bit.

After a few more minutes of walking, my danger senses kicked in and I hid behind a wall. Fortunately, Emilia caught on and did the same.

Taking a peek every so slightly, I managed to catch a glimpse of a group of bipedal green monsters with blades for arms.

They seem to be the newly discovered Evil Shark species. If I remember correctly, they're electric elemental.

While checking my palette to see if I had an earth type weapon, Emilia took a quick peek at the sharks.

"Figures. This place is crawling. And I have a feeling that they're not just gonna let us pass..."

Great observation by Miss Percival.

"Maybe if you asked nicely."

"Ha-ha, very funny. Oh wait, maybe I should tell you this..."

She seemed pretty serious when she said that just now.

Wait, don't tell me...

"... you actually CAN talk to them?"

"What? No! What I wanted to say is... I may be armed, but I haven't been into many fights. Um, none, to be exact..."

Huh?

Care to repeat that?

"So good luck! Don't worry, I got your back!"

This...

This damn kid!

I really wanted to strangle her right at that very moment. What was up with that accompanying me so I don't get killed? Give me my confidence back!

I looked at her again and to my horror...

She's completely serious.

Oh dear gods.

So help me.

\--

 **III**

\--

"Karaaaaa! Save me! Save me, please! C'mon, what're you waiting for!? Aaaahhh, I'm gonna die!"

Emilia screamed as she ran in circles around the chamber as a single Evil Shark rabidly chased her.

As for the other one, I already defeated it. Lucky for us, there were only two in our way.

Before we engaged the sharks, I instructed Emilia to, at the very least, distract one shark while I dealt with another. I would then strike down the one Emilia's distracting.

She said "I'm not exactly a warrior but I hope I can do this..."

Well, she's actually doing a pretty good job.

"Karaaa! Don't just stand there! Help meeeeee!"

"Fine, I'm on it, stop screeching."

I leapt towards their general direction and prepared to swing my saber.

The shark seemed to notice this and quickly turned around and raised its arms to block.

Unluckily for it, I noticed that too and a small light quickly illuminated my left hand.

Using the newly summoned handgun, I managed to fire two quick shots at the creature's exposed legs before I landed on the ground a meter away.

While the energy bullets blasting its legs aren't fatal, the momentary distraction caused by the pain made it lower its guard.

And that was all I needed to place three quick well-placed saber slashes on its body.

A dull thud echoed throughout the chamber as the Evil Shark's body hit what would be its final resting place, the floor.

It twitched for a while before its appendages hung limp.

"Haa... Haaaa... Hey, is it over? Did we do it?"

Emilia came jogging over since she kept running even after I engaged the shark chasing her.

Granted, it was a very short fight so she didn't get too far. But it was still quite some distance since she was surprisingly a fast runner.

"We did. Good job."

For a moment, her eyes looked like it shined but as quickly as it came, she returned to panting heavily faster.

"Haaa... Take that, stupid sharks! Haha!"

"You good to go?"

She seemed like she wanted to complain but I guess she really wanted to get out of this place ASAP so she nodded as affirmation.

We started moving again but I purposely walked a little slower to help Emilia catch her breath.

I'm thoughtful like that. She did do what I told her to do.

This might not be so bad.

ooo000ooo

This is bad.

We were surrounded by Badiras, quadruped hostile creatures, on all sides, four in total.

I might be able to deal with this situation if I were alone but with Emilia along, I can't make any reckless moves.

Luckily, the Badiras aren't charging us yet.

"U-um... Kara? Wh-what do we do?"

"Speak for yourself. This is your fault, after all."

"I said I was sorry, didn't I?"

I could only sigh.

That's right, it's all her fault.

She got bored of walking so she started fiddling around with the rock formations until she caused a minor rock slide.

Of course, this alerted the creatures to our presence.

We tried to make a run for it but the Badiras blocked our path. They also appeared behind us so we also couldn't go back. They then spread out to surround us. And who knows how many more are coming.

Guess we have to fight.

"Eep! Kara, they're starting to come closer!"

"I can see that."

With this, she frantically waved her rod at the hostiles to scare them off but this, of course, only managed to provoke them further.

I was about to stop her and make her dismiss the rod but an idea came to me.

"Emilia, can you use Technics?"

"Huh? Y-yeah, basic ones, but I don't have much practice..."

Yes!

"You don't say. Anyway, that doesn't matter. When I give the signal, use an Ice Tech. Fire at the one in front of us."

"Err, I'll try..."

These Badiras that inhabit the relic site are fire elemental. So with a blast of an Ice Tech at any of them, which is very effective against fire elementals, it might, and I do mean might, startle the others enough that we may be able to escape.

"Alright... On 1..."

"I can do this... I can do this..."

"2..."

"These are nothing!"

"3... FIRE NOW!"

"Taste this! Blast of cold! Rabarta!"

She missed.

ooo000ooo

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Forget it, just keep running!"

Luckily, even though Emilia's Rabarta missed, badly, the Badiras' instincts scrambled them a little.

Before they could retaliate, I blasted them with my handgun and I immediately grabbed Emilia's hand and made a mad dash.

And now we're running from the even angrier Badiras whose numbers doubled because of that ruckus.

"Uh... Uhh..."

"Stop whimpering and keep running if you want to live!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying!"

This is getting us nowhere, fast!

I won't be able to take on eight of them and protect Emilia at the same time!

Just as I was madly thinking of a way to survive,

"Oof!"

Emilia tripped and fell down.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"Uwaaahhh!"

That's it, we're doomed.

It's either I save myself or I we die together. And honestly, I was tempted to just leave this crying wreck here.

But I couldn't.

Die together it is, then.

Just as I was preparing myself for an unpleasant experience, the Badira in the lead whimpered loudly and jumped back, causing the others to stop.

And as if on cue, criss-crossing beams of sharp light filled the corridor behind and in front of me and Emilia.

The Badiras growled at us for a few more seconds before they finally backed off and left one by one.

After ensuring we were safe, I slumped down on the ground besides Emilia.

"We're safe? We're safe! Haha! Ahahaha!"

"Keep it down, crazy girl, you might attract more monsters!"

"Oh can it, aren't you glad to be alive?"

I am, but frankly, I don't have any energy left for this.

"So what happened? Is this a trap?"

Emilia asked. If this is supposed to be a trap, where is the trigger?

Ah, there it is.

"Yeah, you tripped on the mechanism."

By her foot was a raised circle of rock.

Accidentally, this noisy girl saved us both. I don't know if I should be grateful or perplexed.

"So what now? The lasers don't seem to be planning on dissipating on their own."

Hmm...

Upon looking around, I managed to spot what I think might be a control terminal.

It's beyond the lasers.

"See that thingamahoo over there? We need to reach it."

"Where? ...Oh, that terminal over there. Well, that seems dicey so it's all yours! Good luck!"

Sigh.

This girl.

\--

 **IV**

\--

"Not bad. You really are a mercenary."

Speak for yourself, you troublesome girl. That's what I've been trying to tell you before all this monster fiasco started.

And now this trap business.

With all that slithering and jumping around I just did, added to all that mess earlier, I've never been so tired in my life.

"I gotta admit, I'm relieved. With you around, maybe I'll get out of here."

Really.

I have so many questions. Like, why is this girl even a mercenary? Better yet, why did her boss even hire her?

I mean, she's not actually a bad person. Annoying and troublesome, sure, but not bad.

I just had to ask.

"Why are you even in the mercenary business anyway? Err, no offence."

"Well yeah, you see, it's a long story. Some other time?"

And now she's assuming we'll meet again after this.

I guess I'll just forget about it then. I'm just a little worried about what would have happened if I didn't get that stroke of bad luck earlier.

"Alright. Just be careful from now on. I don't know what your boss was thinking but you're definitely no fighter. Even though you're a mercenary."

"Sure, I may work at a mercenary company, but this fighting stuff isn't for me."

"You don't say."

"Not that my boss cares. No, he dragged me into this death trap cause I was lazy."

What an irresponsible boss.

Although there was no way he'd known this little accident would have happened, it's still pretty gutsy to send off a non-fighter to a place like this.

But since he mentioned pay earlier, I guess he'd be irritated that Emilia isn't earning her keep.

"Ooohh, he gets under my skin! Who's he to tell me when to work? You're with me on this, right?"

Don't drag me into your squabble with your boss.

"He's your boss. Though I think he might be a little irresponsible."

"Oh sure, take his side!"

"Sorry."

"No, it's okay, really. I'm used to it."

Huh. I guess she might have it harder than I thought.

Though it's to be expected if she's nothing but a freeloader in their company.

"Used to it, huh?"

She stayed silent for a few seconds before responding.

"... nobody takes anything I say seriously."

You know, I have trouble taking her seriously too.

Really, if she just didn't screech at every opportunity, and just get off her ass and earn her pay, I'd bet she'd be taken more seriously.

Of course, I'm just assuming with all the stuff I've heard.

"Whatever. With your help, I should be able to make it out of here in one piece. Then he'd get a real earful!"

Oh great, she's loud again.

"'The seed are gone' he says. The relic site is 'completely safe' he says. Yeah, right."

If she's just gonna ramble and complain like this, I better stop her. Nothing productive is gonna come out of that mouth if she's like this.

Just as I was about to stop her, she put one hand close to her mouth and closed her eyes. The "Thinker" pose.

Oooh, I wonder what complaint she's gonna come up with next.

"Come to think of it, have any relic sites ever gone active even the Seed weren't attacking?"

"This one did."

"Well, maybe some have, I suppose. It's kinda hard to say for sure. I've heard the relic sites react to elementary particles emitted by the Seed. But does that explain the disruptions in the magnetic field? Hardly."

...uh?

"In any case, the last of the Seed was driven out three years ago, but that didn't stop this place from activating. So if the whole site is run by some sort of master program, it follows that there must be some sort of trigger."

What just happened?

It's like a completely different person!

I had so many questions but my mouth was stuck in an "o" position. I just couldn't stop gawking.

Expectedly, this made her uncomfortable.

Hey, you can't blame me. If she starts rambling about the meaning of the universe, anyone would gawk too.

"Or uh... yeah, something like that."

"Don't you "something like that" me! Are you some kind of expert or something!? Is that why your boss hired you!?"

This startled her. Well, I couldn't help it. If she downplays that amazing observation she just made, well, of course I'd freak out.

"Who, me? No... That's all common knowledge."

"My foot! That's not something anyone would note off the top of their head!"

"W-why are you getting mad!? Ask any mercenary you want! They'll tell you the same thing!"

No, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who would be out of the loop if that was all common knowledge.

"Just forget I said anything. No one ever believes me anyway. Don't you go starting on me now!"

Believe me, that's one of those unforgettable moments or something. I was caught completely off guard.

And the best/worst part? I didn't catch anything that would make me think she was lying.

Well, too bad, Ms. Percival.

"Actually, I do believe you."

This genuinely seemed to surprise her.

"Really? You do?"

"Yup."

If I could describe what emotions her face displayed in a span of five seconds, it go in this order.

Surprise.

Happiness.

Confusion.

Disbelief.

Happiness again.

Before it returned to the default, Annoyance.

"Well, this isn't really the time or place. Let's hurry up and get out of here!"

This girl!

\--

 **V**

\--

We kept walking and walking. Taking some short stops to rest, investigating every nook and cranny carefully, and of course, fighting some hostile monsters.

One encounter with a Vulgatus, tusked hard-carapaced monsters, was particularly hairy.

It was best summarized by Emilia.

 _"Gross! What are these things? I'm gonna have nightmares about this..."_

We must have been walking for over two hours now since we got trapped and it's wearing us down. More so for Emilia.

She even had the nerve to ask to be carried. I refused.

This caused her to give me nasty looks every minute for an hour.

And of course, this stopped when I saved her from a Tavalus, winged fly-like creatures.

"Hey look, a door."

I pointed to a passage we haven't been to yet.

Normally, every time I did this, she'd get over excited and rush over to open it, only to find more of the relic site.

This happened for about seven times.

"Ugh... I don't want to expect anymore. You go first. It's probably just another stupid corridor..."

I guess she's just REALLY tired of getting her hopes crushed repeatedly in a span of two hours.

I moved on and pushed the door open and I was monetarily blinded by a light.

Hey, this might actually be daylight!

Or not.

It was a circular room, with a stream of water separating the floor from the wall. Said wall was filed with glowing rocks with differing light intensity.

"Hey, Emilia, look, this room's a tad different."

"Really? Lemme see, there might be an exit!"

She came jogging over.

It's amazing how fast her face can go from delighted to disappointed.

"Ugh! How much of this place do we have to search before we find a way out!?"

To be honest, I'm a little annoyed now too. Must be all that fatigue.

Looking around, there were all kinds of machinery around this room.

"All these machines around here... they're the site's automated defenses."

That doesn't sound good. We better bail.

"I feel like they're watching me... What if they went live...?"

"Hey don't raise flags! C'mon, let's get outta here!"

She seemed confused but I didn't really want to spend any more time in this room. Those machines are creepy enough. The thought of them activating... No thank you!

We hurried towards the door, but I still couldn't shake this bad feeling away.

And then the doors shut before we could reach it.

"What, again!? This is getting old!"

It would help if she stopped screaming!

Fighting away the panic building inside, I hurriedly checked the door if there's a way to open it.

As I was doing so, I heard something behind us. It was something like something starting up.

Something like a machine.

"Uh, Emilia? What was that?"

"I don't know and I don't want to find out!"

Way to be helpful, you annoying girl!

I was about to turn around when a loud THUD assaulted our ears, and then another one.

Not good. Gotta think fast.

I grabbed hold of Emilia's hand with my right hand and manifested my handgun with the other.

We quickly moved out of the way as what was behind us charged at what was now our previous location.

I fired five bullets at it but all I heard was the energy shots clanging off harmlessly in what I imagined was extremely hard armor.

As soon as we reached the other side of the room, we were finally able to take a good look at our assailant.

I could practically _feel_ Emilia pale.

We were looking at a giant machine that looks like someone wearing heavy armor with light emitting from the blank spaces.

It was easily three times taller than us.

And it was carrying an axe almost as big as itself.

"You gotta be kidding me! I shoulda just kept my big mouth shut!"

Yes, she should do that all the time.

"I told you so."

"This is no time for "I told you so's!". What are we gonna do!?"

Sigh.

Well, can we do?

"This could get messy... But whatever. Do what I say and we can handle this."

"Whaddaya mean "handle this"!? Don't tell me you're planning on fighting that!"

"Got any better ideas?"

"Ugnh..."

Really, what did she want to do?

But I guess I can understand her extreme hesitation. That thing is *huge*.

"All right, I'm with you! If you say we can handle it, we can handle it!"

"I appreciate the vote of confidence but not screwing up like earlier with the Badiras would be more helpful."

"N-no, you can count on me this time, I promise!"

Well, I don't have much of a choice, do I? Whatever, let's get this boss battle over and done with.

Ranged attacks aren't gonna do squat so I dismissed my handgun and summoned my saber and a shield.

"Ooohh, good idea! When things get hot, remember to defend! I'll be counting on you for blocking, Kara!"

"At least defend yourself from time to time, you troublesome girl!"

The golem seemed to lose patience for our squabbling and charged at us with its axe.

"I'll draw its attention. Get behind and pelt it with Techs! Go!"

Emilia nodded before running around the golem as I raised my shield to block the incoming attack.

And I was sent flying a fair distance.

That was close. If I had blocked an overhead slash, I would have been paste!

"Bolt of electricity, Zonde!"

A thin but fast stream of electricity emitted from Emilia's rod and struck the back of the golem's head.

Funny, it looks like she's more accurate with electric Techs.

Though it didn't seem like the blast hurt the golem very much, it did give me enough time to recover as it slowly turned towards its assailant.

I sprinted fast at the golem and quickly swung my saber at its leg with all my might!

It released a mechanical roar of pain as it raised its axe to strike back at me, forgetting about Emilia.

I dodged this time as I didn't want to get squashed.

This repeated two more times, Emilia blasting the golem with Zonde and me attacking the same leg.

It seemed to have caused significant damage this time as it keeled down on its damaged leg but it still looked ready to fight.

"Haha, take that, you brutish hunk of junk!"

"Don't get cocky! It can still fight!"

True enough, it stood back up and roared out a loud battle cry.

It then charged again at me, albeit slower and a little sluggishly.

"Keep blasting it!"

Emilia nodded in response and started preparing her spells.

I quickly dodged the golem's slower attack then moved back in to slash at its sides just as a Zonde spell struck it on the back.

Another roar of pain.

That seemed to be good news. But the bad news is that me and Emilia are running out of stamina, fast.

As we regrouped, the golem started getting up again, this time, very slowly, with some lag in its movements.

"Huff.. Huff.. Almost done..."

I raggedly breathed out to Emilia who was panting lightly.

As we were expecting the golem to resume attacking, we returned to our stances but it did something it hadn't done this entire fight.

It raised its axe above its head and begun building up large amounts of electrical energy.

Uh-oh.

"Emilia, get ready to dodge."

Before she could respond, the golem brought down the axe and slammed the handle to the ground.

A raging blast of electrical energy began bursting out its body in large amounts and they were headed straight for us.

"Stay behind!"

The attack lasted for around ten seconds.

We kept dodging every bolt targeting us and I blocked the shots we couldn't dodge while Emilia supported by blasting the ones I couldn't with Zonde.

Until finally, the attack greatly decreased in intensity.

This is our chance!

"Emilia, prepare a stronger spell and fire at my signal!"

"Got it!"

I charged at the golem while it was still recovering.

It raised its axe to slam down on me as I was nearing its vicinity.

"Fire, now!"

"Bolts of lightning, strike down! Razonde!"

Emilia fired a large number of lightning bolts from her rod.

And this time, they hit their mark.

The golem wasn't expecting this, as numerous blasts assaulted its upper body, its axe flying away at the resulting explosions.

Perfect.

Its arms apart and no way to defend nor attack, I dismissed my shield, held my saber with both hands and leapt at its head.

And I impaled it where the middle of the eyes would be on a normal person.

The golem didn't release any sound except the lights on its body dying down.

Its arms then fell limp as it fell down face first.

I got out of the way using its chest as a launching pad as a loud crash exploded across the circular room.

ooo000ooo

"Huff... pant... I'm... alive...? I'm alive!"

Emilia cheered as the golem remained unmoving.

We won.

But there's still a bad feeling in my chest.

"We did it! The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"

Seeing as there's no more threats, I dismissed my saber and exhaled in relief. Fight's over.

"That was really something! I knew you could do it! I knew it!"

"You're raising an awful lot of flags..."

Is this what the bad feeling is about...?

As I was wondering, something behind us sounded like starting up.

Funny, the golem we defeated was behind us.

Before we could turn around, a giant armored hand reached out to grab Emilia before she could even finish saying "Huh?"

It all happened so fast.

I didn't have time to summon my weapons, tell her to get away, or grab her and dodge.

All I could do was push her away.

And that was all I remember before everything turned to black.


	3. V1 Ch2: Tour de Petite Aile!

**Mostly a dialogue chapter. Leave a review, please**!

\--

Little Wing It

Volume 1

The Holy Light's Blessings On This Wonderful System!

 **Chapter 2**

 **Tour de Petite Aile!**

\--

 **I**

\--

"Why'd you do this...?"

... huh?

"... why aren't you getting up?"

I'm... not?

"Don't leave me alone!"

I... what? I don't... understand.

"You are not alone. I am with you, always."

ooo000ooo

"Oh pardonne, but I cannot."

Huh? Who was that?

"Oui. Oui. Non. It was very kind of you to offer. Next time, yes?"

I tried opening my eyes to check but I was quickly blinded by the lights.

Guess I have to let them adjust first.

Right now, I'm lying down on what I assume to be a bed. Or at least a mattress.

So I was rescued...?

I don't remember much of what happened.

I came to check out this new relic site and ended up getting stuck in it along with a noisy girl.

... oh right, what happened to Emilia? Gotta check if they rescued her too.

Feeling that I can now open my eyes without burning them, I slowly lifted my eyelids.

Everything was blurry but I can somehow make out something white. Or what I assume to be white.

And it seemed to be... jiggling as it moved.

At that moment, my eyesight cleared to a point I can properly see.

Ah, I was staring at...

Boobies.

I averted my eyes so as to not be branded a perv once this fair lady noticed that I was awake.

From what I can tell, it seemed to be some kind of office.

There were a few people walking around and there were some working on desks.

Oh, one was watching something inappropriate.

The only one working was the boo- I mean, the fair lady.

Who conveniently seemed to notice my awakening.

"Ah, you 'ave awakened!"

What's with that weird accent?

Since I don't feel hurt anywhere, I decided to get up from where I was lying.

Ah, it was indeed a mattress on the floor.

Well, beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.

"One moment, if you please."

She turned to the person watching something incredible.

On closer inspection, the guy was wearing a vaguely familiar open-chested purplish-pink coat. And his face was 80% brown hair. Can't even see his eyes.

Wait, I think I saw that guy before...

"Monsieur Boss! Monsieur Boss! Our guest has gotten up! Perhaps you could get it up too?"

The man only grunted in response and didn't seem to have any immediate plans to come over.

Where have I seen him before?

As I racked my brain trying to remember, the lady, who I noticed has green hair and wearing a dangerous dress, seemed to get tired of calling "Monsieur Boss" over and turned towards me.

"Welcome to Little Wing."

Hmm, she has a slightly robotic voice. And those triangle things on the sides of her head where the ears are supposed to be means she must be a CAST.

"I am Chelsea. Enchante."

"A pleasure to meet you"

I bowed slightly while I responded. Chelsea's eyes lit up, as if she just witnessed something rare and amazing.

"The pleasure is mine! How nice to meet someone who has not forgotten what manners are."

Oh, what were those people thinking?

If faced with such an attractive female, you should always be polite!

No, wait, I meant we should always be polite! Equality for all!

Yes, that's what I meant.

"Monsieur Boss! Monsieur Boss! Our guest is awake!"

Chelsea, a bit more cheerful than before, returned to calling "Monsieur Boss" over, who was now on the phone.

"Hang on, I'm talking to somebody."

I recognize that voice too...

"Hey, it's me. I need ya to get yer ass down here. ... I don't care if you don't wanna come! Spoiled Brat!"

Well, whoever he is, he seems to be preoccupied with something.

Really, if he didn't he rescue me from that relic site, I'd feel disrespected.

I assume, of course that he was the rescuer. Or at least, his company, Little Wing, is it?

"Oh my, I suppose it is I who will explain."

Chelsea said as she gave up on calling for the Boss for the second time in a span of a few minutes.

"No, no, it's alright, really. Please go on."

This seemed to please her as she started the explanations.

"This is Clad 6. It is a resort colony."

So I'm in space? Well it's not like I have stuff in Parum, the planet where the relic site was located, anyway.

"And you are in the offices of Little Wing! We are a civilian security firm, yes?"

A civilian security firm? Well, I guess it makes sense that I'd be rescued by them.

"Monsieur Boss brought you here. You were asleep all this time. Like a baby. So peaceful!"

... Am I being hit on?

Well it was a compliment, I guess. Or at least I think it was.

"Feelin' any better?"

A gruff voice, definitely not Chelsea's, asked.

Oh, it was Mr. Monsieur Boss.

"You look like someone spit on your soup."

Now, that's just nasty.

Though it's also true that I'm very confused.

"Maybe I should fill ya in on what's goin' on. Hmm, where to start?"

"Yes, please."

I answered without missing a beat. I would very much like to know what is goin' on.

"Heh. Name's Kraz Muehler. This little mercenary outfit I got goin' here is called Little Wing."

"I thought it was a civilian security firm?"

This made the boss, Kraz Muehler, snort in response.

"Well, more of that, yeah. But "mercenary outfit" has a better ring to it, wouldn't you say?"

Can't argue with that.

Seeing as I have no questions at the moment, Kraz returned to his explanation.

"We do private security for big shots with deep pockets, run patrols around factories. That sorta thing. We were down at that relic site when all hell broke loose."

So he was in that relic site, huh? Is that where I saw him before?

And what is with my memory? Did I get drugged with amnesia pills or something?

"Yeah, so instead of a nice scouting mission, I ended up rescuing the idiots who got trapped inside."

Wow, rude.

Wait, idiots? There was someone else who-

Oh shit, I completely forgot about Emilia!

Well, that must mean she got rescued too. That's one worry outta the way.

She was noisy and troublesome but I could tell she wasn't a bad person. I'd feel quite terrible if something happened to her. I'm not as cold hearted as some people may think.

"One of those idiots was you. Trouble was, you weren't carrying any ID. I couldn't exactly leave you where I found you, so here you are."

"Thanks for saving me."

Well, he continues to be quite rude but he DID save me.

"Don't mention it. In fact, you might say I had an ulterior motive."

Well, that's quite generous of him but that ulterior motive makes me quite uneasy.

Anyway, I should ask about Emilia. Just to make sure.

"Exuse me, what happened to the girl I was with?"

"Heh, worried about her, ain't ya?"

He cast a smile at me while saying so. I was expexting him to answer my question next but he just stayed in that position for a couple of seconds.

While he looks ridiculous, that doesn't answer my question!

As Kraz had a look that seemed as he was about to complain, the office's doors slid open. I couldn't see who it was since the doors were behind me at the moment.

Kraz's annoyance grew further as he saw who came in. Well, by the sound of the footsteps, they were walking quite slowly.

"Well, it's about damn time! Get yourself over here!

"Give it a rest boss. Today is not the day for this. Do you have any idea what I've been through."

Huh, another familiar voice.

It belonged to a girl, who had finally reached the table me and Kraz were at.

She had blonde hair, part of which was tied into a short ponytail but still had enough to hang freely to reach her shoulders. And she was wearing a pink blazer, a black undershirt, a black miniskirt and pink boots.

She had a lazy look on her face and she didn't seem to be particularly worried even though her boss is chewing her out.

For some reason, seeing her set off lots of danger signals in my system. Come to think of it, this girl also seems familiar...

Hey, wait a minute!

"Don't know, don't care. Save yer whining for someone who does. Can't you see we have company? Show some manners."

"Oh, sorry. Nice to meet- wait a minute! You look familiar..."

"'Sup, noisy girl."

Her eyes and mouth both slowly widened. She seemed to be in shock.

Just then, I had this really bad feeling from the pits of my stomach.

"EEEEHHHHHHHHHH!!!???"

 _Ouch_.

\--

 **II**

\--

"Wha!? Wh-what are you doing here?"

What is this girl even saying?

"... am I not allowed here or something?"

"No, I thought, I mean, uh, shouldn't you be dead?"

Hey, watch it.

And why would she even think that? I don't remember running into anything that would make her do so.

Last I remember, we got trapped inside a circular chamber, courtesy of the relic site's automated defense mechanism.

We had to fight a giant golem too. Now that I have time to recall, it was a Svaltia, if I remember correctly. Luckily, we managed to beat it.

After that, well...

Wait, what happened after that? I don't remember at all!

After the fight with the golem, the next thing I remember is waking up to a pair of boobies. Not a bad way of waking up but it doesn't explain anything at all.

I should ask Emilia about that later.

"Luckily, that's not up to you to decide. I swear, the things that come out of that mouth of yours."

"You might have told me. This is how I find out?"

Now that I turn my attention back to the two, I noticed that they seem to be arguing.

Well, at least, they're finishing up arguing. Emilia turned back towards me almost the same time I finished reminiscing about the great time I had in the relic site.

"Uh, sorry about earlier. I am glad you're okay, though."

Well, she should be. I was practically her pay-less bodyguard back there.

"It's just that, after I blacked out, I don't remember anything until waking up here. I must have dreamed the whole thing. Phew, talk about a load off!"

Oh, great, we were in the same boat. Well, I guess it's not that important anyway. We were both alive and that's all I need to know at the moment.

"Definitely not, delirious girl."

"Hey, stop calling me names! And it couldn't have been ANYTHING but a dream!"

Though her attitude about the whole thing kinda annoys me.

"So you're already acquainted! Good. Getting along well too. This should make this easier."

"Makes what easier?"

Kraz spoke up as me and Emilia were talking, saying something quite vague to me. Oh, and he ignored Emilia's question too and kept his attention on me.

That look of annoyance on her face is quite funny too.

"You're freelance, right? Well not anymore. You're with us now."

Huh? Hey, wait, a job offer? Really? Little old me?

"Whoa, where'd that come from?"

"Quiet, you. I was talking to him."

Me and Kraz ignored Emilia as she silently growled at the side.

This offer is actually intriguing me. Mostly because being freelance can be quite difficult at times.

Though, with Kraz's history of sending off non-fighters to dangerous relic sites, this requires a bit more thinking.

Kraz took my silence as an invitation to explain further. And so he did.

"We aren't a big company, but for someone with your experience, we'd sign you on with a full bonus package."

Bonus package? Now that's interesting.

I may not be an elite mercenary, but experience is one of the things I got going for me. I've been freelance for a while now, so I've had my fair share of mercenary action.

"I'll even throw in a partner. She's not much, but she's better than nothing."

Now, that's generous. Though that "not much" part kinda makes me suspicious."

"How unusually generous of you."

See? Even Emilia thinks it's suspicious.

But like he said, it's better than nothing. I'm practically getting VIP treatment here. With the recent dwindling of resources, it's hard to find a steady job, nowadays.

I was about to accept Kraz's offer but he suddenly said something incredible.

"I'm talking about you, knucklehead."

"Me!?"

What.

Oh, so that's the catch. So he was hiring me to practically be this girl's babysitter.

What a disservice. And here I thought there was loyalty between fellow beastkin!

"What do you say? No entrance exam, free partner. More than a fair offer, eh?"

In truth, that really was more than a fair offer. A steady, good-paying job was being offered to me on a silver, no, GOLD platter. There's even a partner thrown in.

Though if said partner is one Emilia Percival, then that's kinda a deal-breaker.

I looked at said deal-breaker and she was silently looking at me with pleading eyes while slowly shaking her head.

I thought it over. Since Kraz trapped me in this situation, there's certainly going to be another catch should I refuse.

"Say, this is all hypothetical, but if I refuse?"

I just had to ask.

"Well, that'll be too bad. 'Course, we'll have you pay us for rescuing you. And we'll also send you the medical bills. Checked earlier and there were a lot of zeroes! Well that's all hypothetical, like you said. You will sign up, won't ya?"

Ah, of course. Really, what a cruddy boss. I almost feel bad for Emilia.

Almost.

"Haha, yeah, hypothetical. Alright, sign me up."

The look of utter betrayal that appeared on Emilia's face made this all so worth it.

Really, with all the trouble she put me through before, I'm gonna take every chance I can get to have my fun at her expense.

"Then it's settled! Welcome aboard!"

"Thanks for having me."

Well, at the very least, I should still be grateful.

They saved my life, after all.

Too bad I can't say the same for my favorite black coat. What even happened to it?

For those interested, I was currently wearing a plain white shirt.

"Heh, don't mention it. I even went ahead and took the liberty of preparing some quarters for you."

Really, all this generosity is starting to make me uncomfortable. How many babysitters gave up on this girl before me...?

"So what's your name, kid?"

I was honestly hesitating to tell him and even thought about making up a different name.

Though that plan fell out the window when I saw Emilia snickering at me. Ah, right, she knew my name.

How irritating.

"K-Kara Draken."

Emilia covered her mouth with her hands to hide her laughing while Kraz just looked at me with an amused smile.

Even Chelsea got a little caught off-guard.

Really, why is that so funny? It's a normal name! It's not my fault a majority of Kara's are female!

Lucky for me, Kraz didn't seem to push the issue and returned his attention back to Emilia, who was getting the last snickers out of her system.

"Don't just stand there, Emilia! Escort your new partner to the living quarters. You two play nice, hear?"

It's amazing how fast this girl's expressions can change.

I have no idea what he meant by "play nice", what with all that incredibleness he was watching earlier, but if I'm to keep this job, I better not speak out of turn.

"Wait, boss! Don't I get any say in who my partner is?"

"What, am I not good enough for you?"

I was ignored.

I'm hurt, I really am.

"If you'd rather work solo, I suppose that could be arranged."

Wow, I better get some tips from him on how to handle this troublesome girl. Look at her look so defeated.

"Save yer complaints for when you're ready to work alone. Understood?"

"Ugh..."

"So, can you lead the way, _partner_?"

Kraz gave me a grin of approval on that one. Emilia, on the other hand, looked at me in annoyance.

Well, the feeling's mutual.

Seeing me shrug, she gave up.

"All right, you guys win. I'll be waiting outside the living quarters."

And then she left.

Without even telling me where the living quarters are. Typical.

"That girl has more lip on her than brains. Orders aren't up for debate."

You tell 'im, boss-man.

"Monsieur Boss is too hard on the girl. You catch more bees with honey than vinegar."

Chelsea offered her two meseta. I honestly forgot we were nearby her desk.

"If she worked more like a bee, maybe she'd deserve some honey."

Exactly.

Silently commentating like this is actually pretty fun.

That is, until Kraz turned to me and asked for MY two meseta.

"What'd you think? Am I too hard on her?"

Don't drag me into this, please.

Though, honestly? Nah, he's not. That girl is a special case.

"Meh, I'm sure she deserves it."

"Damn straight. Finally, someone with some sense 'round here."

Really? I was the first one to tell him this?

"At that age, give 'em an inch, and they take a light year. Let me go ahead and set the record straight right here and now."

Kraz straightened up as he continued. Or at least, as straightened up as one like him could get.

Which isn't saying much, really.

"Her and me aren't related in any way, shape, or form. I'm her boss, she's my employee. End of story."

Well, no shit.

Really, why would he even think that I thought they were related?

I barely spoke since waking up here.

"What a thing to say! You are the girl's guardian!"

Huh, now THAT caught me off guard.

Really? He's Emilia's legal guardian? Where did he even get the qualifications?

"I only took the two of you in to settle a bar tab."

"You were the only who keeps coming until the bar goes out of business. Truly, I am grateful for all you have done for us."

This seemed to make Kraz uncomfortable. He turned back to me.

And I was enjoying that little back and forth too.

"This is getting us nowhere. Listen, we're not related, all right?"

"I never thought you were..."

"Good. Though, technically, I am her legal guardian. And that's the only reason I keep her lazy, back-talking carcass around."

Why do I keep getting the faint feel of a tsundere parent?

I should bury that weird thought before it escalates.

"It is not her fault. There are so many new things at first, no?"

"I don't want to get into a whole thing about the girl's past. Frankly, I don't care."

He shut off that argument quite effectively, if I do say so myself. And of course, he turns back towards me.

"As for you, your only job is to keep Emilia out of trouble. Keep her safe."

There's that feeling again. People just can't be honest, it seems.

"If you can get her to where she actually pulls her own weight around here, even better. How you do it is up to you. Don't let me down."

"Sure thing, boss."

He nodded in response before returning back to his table. To resume watching his incredible show, I presume.

"Monsieur Boss has a sharp tongue, but Emilia is a good girl."

Chelsea said to me as soon as she confirmed that were out of Kraz's hearing range.

"Be nice to her, and I am happy. Emilia is happy. We are all happy."

Well, I suppose. I don't really have any grievances for the girl so I think I can be nice to her from time to time...

I nodded at Chelsea as my response. This seemed like a satisfactory answer for her.

"Now, Emilia is waiting for you outside the living quarters. Do not keep a lady waiting!"

I bid farewell to Chelsea as she returned back to her receptionist duties.

I started walking towards the office's exit but stopped midway after remembering something quite important that I had noted to myself earlier.

Emilia neglected to tell me where the living quarters were.

\--

 **III**

\--

I found her in front of the residential area, looking like she could fall asleep standing up at any moment.

I'm gonna have one hell of a time whipping this problematic girl into a decent shape.

"Well it's about time!"

Yeah, I took my time heading over to where we were now. I learned some new stuff about Little Wing too while I was at it.

Turns out Little Wing's only a branch office for a much bigger company, Skyclad, whose head office is in Parum.

Skyclad has a lot going for it. Medicine making, clothes, makeup, food packaging, and even the hotel business.

The resort office where Little Wing is stationed in, Clad 6, is the sixth branch of Skyclad, hence the name. And of the many things Clad 6 does is run the security firm, Little Wing.

Truly makes one wonder why such a big and prosperous company is bothering with the security contractor business. Probably something mercenaries like me shouldn't have to worry about.

One more thing I learned about Little Wing is that when signing up, they require no documentation of any kind. As long as you have the skills to pay the bills, even if you have a criminal record.

One of the reasons why they don't have much personnel. Around fifty or so, I've been told.

Though the variety is pretty amazing. There are former thugs, pirates, etc. And they're very loyal to each other.

 _"We may be Little Wing now but we'll certainly be Much Bigger Wing soon!"_ , I've been told.

But since they don't have much members, they try to recruit pretty much every chance they get. Which brings me to another thing I learned.

Imagine my surprise when I saw Vasque, the CAST I met back in the relic site, rolling with the Little Wing crew.

Turns out Kraz saw him helping out with the rescue efforts and asked him to come over.

He told me he was a little worried when he learned about the no documentation policy but so far, so good, he said. He also apologized about not noticing me tripping.

It wasn't his fault anyway. My luck is just not that good. And with all the stampeding around, I kinda expexted it. When I told him about it, he seemed impressed that I was able to survive as a freelance mercenary despite my bad luck.

He seemed worried about Kraz's attitude towards work but quickly let go of it.

 _"We're mercenaries, and we do as we're told, am I right?"_ , he said.

He also told me that if we're ever put on assignment together, he'll watch my back if I watch his.

Vasque is a cool guy to hang with.

I also met a blue-haired woman clad in red clothing named Kunoh.

She seems to be a veteran Little Winger, so I was sure to be polite.

She told me that since they don't ask questions about what I did before I joined, I'll only go as far as I achieve. She added that if I don't think I got what it takes then I better take her advice and take off.

I thought that she was one of those bad superiors but turns out she was just testing me.

 _"Seeing as you didn't flinch just now, I'm guessing you do have what it takes. Or at least you think you do."_

She told me not to worry, and that she's on my side so long as I'm on hers and to drop by anytime.

Overall, she seems alright too. Little Wing is mostly filled with good people, with a few exceptions.

Which brings me to one of those said exceptions.

"Can we get this over with now? I need some shut eye."

Really, this girl. Why can't you be like your peers?

Makes one wonder how they're putting up with this troublesome girl.

I followed her into my new room, and I wasn't disappointed. Seems like Kraz really did go out of his way for me. Heh.

It wasn't a big room, but it's big enough for one person.

There was a bed, a few tables and chairs and even a dressing room. Located by the corner was the storage for my stuff and on the corner table was a brand new VisiPhone.

VisiPhones can be used to record information about many things, file mission reports, etc.

Not bad, if I do say so myself. Much better than my previous living situation, which, as a freelance mercenary, was anywhere I can afford to stay for the night. Hotels, Inns, a random cave, you get the gist.

"That pretty much covers the important stuff, anyway. Try things out for yourself. You'll figure it out, I'm sure. Now I seriously have to get to bed. _*yawn*_ , I'm asleep on my feet..."

I can't tell if she's complimenting me or she's just being lazy.

No, I'm pretty sure she's just being lazy.

"Wha- hey! Go sleep in your own room!"

" _*yawn*_ , when things get down, I get sleepy..."

No use, she's already knocked out and mumbling.

I sighed. What a troublesome partner. What happened to the serious Emilia that assisted me back in the relic site? I really wish I could switch.

Well, now that I can't use my own bed, I decided that I can kill some time wandering Clad 6. I can't exactly go on missions with my partner like this. I headed out the door.

"Wait. It should be safe for us to speak here."

Who said that? I thought Emilia was asleep. And her voice sounded different.

Funny, I don't remember anyone entering after us.

I turned back and saw Emilia standing up, but her eyes were still closed. And she was emitting a faint but noticeable golden light.

What the heck?

Before I could ask what the hell was going on, various markings appeared on Emilia's face and neck and glowed golden too.

And then a bright, blonde, beautiful girl appeared from behind her. There was a golden halo with distinct spikes protruding from it on her back.

The girl opened her eyes, and they were golden too.

I rubbed my own eyes briefly, and when I reopened them, the girl was still there, floating behind Emilia while covered with a bright golden aura.

I knew I should have gotten some coffee earlier.

\--

 **IV**

\--

"I am Mika, an entity of pure consciousness. I have chosen this girl as my vessel. The form you see before you is a product of technology lost long ago."

Wait wait wait wait.

Am I hallucinating? Because I'm sure this is just a hallucination.

Did a person just appear out of thin air?

What in the heck?

"The people of your time call it the technology of the Ancients, which would make me an Ancient."

An Ancient, huh? I could swear I've heard about that term before.

"In the distant past, my people lived in this system. We were the first."

"Huh? You're selling what now?"

In truth, I was genuinely confused, even if it was just a daydream talking to me.

My response seemed to catch the lady off guard. She was confused for a moment before she continued.

"I understand your doubts, but please, hear all I have to say before making up your mind."

"Well, that's nice but I barely have any meseta on me. I can't buy whatever it is you're selling."

The glowing lady got even more confused.

Can you blame me? It's been a very tiring day, and then this daydream comes along and starts talking about ancient civilizations.

Of course I wouldn't be able to follow the conversation.

"I-I do not understand. I am not seeking to barter with you. Please, listen to my plea. You are the only one I can trust."

Huh, last time I checked, I wasn't anyone special.

But seeing the pleading look on her face, I felt kinda guilty about treating this as a joke.

And she just had that sincere feel about her that makes you think she couldn't possibly be lying.

Ah, whatever, I'll just play along for now. I just hope nobody else comes in or Emilia suddenly wakes up.

"Alright, what do you need?"

Upon hearing this, she, Mika, had a grateful look on her face as she started to continue her sales pi- I mean, her explanation.

"I have studied Emilia's memories to learn about your time. Three years ago, a great calamity befell the Gurhal System- The attack of the Seed."

That's one word I'd rather not hear again. The Seed left some very bad memories for me.

I'd rather not talk about the Seed again but I'll endure it this time. This seems very important for this person.

"But that was not their first attack. They came in my time as well."

The hell, really?

If what she said earlier, that she's an Ancient, is true, then that's a REALLY long time ago.

The Seed existed way back then? What even are those things anyway? This conversation just got very uncomfortable.

"I apologize if this is an unpleasant topic for you."

"N-no, it's alright. Please continue."

Mika seemed to have noticed that my expression turned sour at the mention of the Seed. In any case, it'd be rude to stop her at this point, so I told her to continue on.

This seemed to have relieved her.

"It was the height of our civilization. The Seed Invasion pushed us to the brink of ruin."

"You too, huh?"

"Indeed. The battle was long, but in the end, we triumphed, banishing the Seed and their leader, Dark Falz."

Only for them to return in our time. Granted, the Seed were resealed but the damage was already there.

I would guess this is the same case for the Ancients.

"But victory came too late. The planets of our system were already tainted by the Seed. Not even our bodies were spared. The taint of the Seed left nothing untouched."

The Seed truly were a nightmare Gurhal never really was prepared for.

To think that that calamity had already occured twice.

"It was only a matter of time before our system and all who lived there would perish. So the Ancients risked everything on a grand venture that would span the ages: Project Renaissance."

Oh boy, I've got a bad feeling about this.

I remained silent, since Mika was gonna explain everything anyway.

"First, we purified the Gurhal System of the Seed, restoring the planets to their former glory. Next, we created a new race of men, and loosed them on the pristine worlds. Finally, the Ancients shed their tainted flesh and became beings of thought. Our work done, we passed into sleep."

So, what's Project Renaissance?

I find it hard to believe that they just wanted to fix the system, create new people, and then just silently pass away.

If that's what they wanted, then they wouldn't need to become pure consciousness.

As I motioned for Mika to continue, the bad feeling in my gut intensified.

"We slept and waited. Waited for the day our children would rise as we had, that we might steal their bodies for our own."

"What!?"

I burst out. Luckily, this didn't seem to wake up Emilia, nor alert anyone outside the room. It did startle Mika, though.

I mean, it's only natural, right? If an ancient civilization is plotting to hijack the entire system's population, and you've just been told this by someone from said civilization...

You'd freak out too.

"I admit, I should have expected such a reaction..."

"Hell yeah, you should have! I should have known something was off about all this!"

If these Ancients think they can steal this system from us from right under our noses, then they've got another thing coming for them!

I mean, all my stuff is here.

"I understand your hostility but please! Please hear me out once more. The current Gurhal's survival rests on our very hands!"

What? Why would she bother with OUR survival? I thought the Ancients want to steal our bodies?

Wasn't she one of them? Boy, do I have a lot of questions.

"A-alright, go on."

"I am grateful for your consideration. Now, where did we stop..."

I'll just let her finish the entire explanation. THEN I'll bombard her with questions.

"As time passed, all went according to plan. The civilization of the men we created grew and prospered. Their technology advanced, until finally they unlocked the secrets that would lead them to our slumber."

So it's going to be an ambush? We somehow locate their sleeping grounds, then they hijack our minds?

Wait, don't tell me...

I might have an idea about this, but without hard facts, they're all just speculation. I have no choice but to rely on Mika's words.

"Thjs new race of men- humans- are our children. The Gurhal System has fallen into the trap laid so long ago by the Ancients. I know you must find it hard to believe... but it is the truth."

... I have no reason to believe her at all.

For all I know, I could just be daydreaming.

But there's also something about Mika that makes me just _want_ to believe her.

I was about to say something but then Mika's next statement smashed that idea away.

"And so I ask for your help to stop this dreadful plan from happening."

Huh?

"The one you call Emilia will not hear me. Her heart and mind are closed. So I beg of you, please, lend me your assis-"

"Hold on just a flippin' minute!"

And so I startled Mika for the second time that day.

"I thought you were an Ancient? Why would you want to stop the plan? And why are you even telling me this?"

She remained a little shocked for a few more moments because of my outburst, before she straightened up and looked at me seriously.

"Though I am an Ancient, I have no desire to be reborn in this time."

"... why?"

"Our destruction was our fate. Our time has passed."

That doesn't answer my other question though.

Why go through all this trouble just to tell ME, of all people...?

I'm nobody special. I'm just another freelance mercenary who just recently got a job at a security contractor called Little Wing.

"Why me? Can't it be someone else?"

I'm no hero. I can just ignore all this, and maybe someone else will learn of the Ancients' plan, and they'll be the ones to stop this.

Maybe it'll be the Guardians' hero, Ethan Waber. Or even some kid out there aiming to be someone important.

Stay out of my business, and I'll keep out of yours. That's how I've lived all my life.

Mika stayed silent for a while, as if she's hesitating whether or not to answer my question.

After a few seconds, she seemed to have made a decision.

"You and I are not the strangers you might think."

Huh? We've met before? How's that even possible? Was I an Ancient in a past life?

"Ask yourself: Why can we talk as we do? What bond do we share?"

"I... have no idea."

She seemed to have been expecting this response, evidenced by the lack of change in her serious expression.

"When the automaton attacked you in the relic site, was it real?"

I thought we defeated that automaton?

Didn't we?

Strangely, when I try to remember, the dots don't seem to connect.

Me and Emilia defeated the Svaltia, somehow. And then the next thing I remember was waking up here in Little Wing.

What happened back there? Did I pass out from exhaustion?

Or...?

No, that can't be right. I'm still alive and kicking here.

Right?

"Are you even alive?"

"What kinda question is that? Of course I am! I'm right here! I'm alive... right?"

I was expecting something like "of course you are" or anything similar.

But Mika just continued to stare at me wordlessly.

What does that mean?

I died...?

But I'm right _here_!

And I couldn't have been a ghost, either. Emilia, Kraz and the others can see and talk to me just fine earlier!

"Haha, this is all just a bad joke, right?"

"This is no joke. The automaton destroyed your flesh. You knew true death."

So it was true? I really did die?

Perished? Kicked the bucket? Passed away?

It wasn't just a dream? The part where the Svaltia reactivated and attacked and I pushed Emilia out of the way? All that wasn't a dream?

But that doesn't answer why I'm still here!

Mika seemed to read my question from my face, and she opened her mouth to speak once again.

"It was Emilia's wish that activated my program and allowed me to reconstruct your broken body."

Emilia did?

I looked at her sitting but still sleeping form, and a wide range of emotions all started pouring in.

She saved me?

"Even now, we-"

" _*yawn*_ "

Mika's latest statement was interrupted by Emilia spontaneously yawning and stretching.

"She will awaken soon. You and I will speak again."

And as grandiose as her first appearance was, Mika vanished in a relatively quiet way, like a light flickering out.

" _*yawn*_ , guess I dozed there... um, why are you staring at me?"

"Uh, I was uh... watching you sleep?"

Well, if you consider talking to an Ancient sharing your body watching you sleep, then I wasn't really lying was I?

Unsurprisingly, this answer unsettled Emilia quite a lot.

"That's just creepy! Next time I fall asleep, wake me up! Ew..."

I think the lesson here is to sleep in your own room.

But after remembering that I just recently learned that I had died, I just didn't have any energy to start an argument.

Emilia didn't seem to have expected me to remain silent and thought I was being apologetic.

"Well, I'm not really mad... Just don't do it again, okay!?"

"O-oh, sure."

She continued to stare at me weirdly, still looking surprised that I'm not arguing.

Really, the urge to antagonize this girl significantly lowered after I learned that she was the reason why I'm still alive.

"O-okay then. I guess I should show you our ship now. C'mon, follow me."

\--

 **V**

\--

"You're all set up to use the transporter. It'll take you straight to the bridge. Go on, give it a try."

I did as Emilia had said and stepped into the glowing blue circle on the ground.

It seems like the system automatically detects what ship you are assigned to since it didn't require any manual input from me.

And I was right. I was transported inside a relatively unused ship.

Of course, there must be a way to transport to a ship that's not assigned to you. For visiting purposes or others, probably.

I'm actually a bit impressed. It looks like the ship's in great condition. I can't say much about the exterior since I got transported inside but the interior looks good.

It's not too big. Just the right size for a small team. The bridge looks spacious enough. There are a few pilot seats and some passenger seats as well.

In the center of the bridge is what I assume to be the main control system. It has a holographic display of the three planets in the Gurhal System: Parum, Moatoob and Neudaiz, as well as one for Clad 6.

This might not be so bad after all!

As I was busy admiring the ship, I heard someone transport inside. It was probably Emilia.

"This is the ship we'll use for work. She's company property so take good care of her."

Well, it couldn't have been anyone else but her.

I still don't know what to feel hand. On one hand, she's loud, annoying, lazy and troublesome.

On the other hand, she did save my life.

I've decided. I'm gonna be a bit nicer to show my gratitude. Of course, I'm still gonna reprimand her if she does something stupid.

After all, I can't just tell her about all that Ancients business just yet. It's best if she thinks it was just a dream. For now, at least.

"Uh... what's gotten into you, Kara?"

Huh?

I must have been staring at her while I was thinking.

"You've been staring at my forehead the whole time I was talking. Do I have something stuck up there?

She asked while she started checking her forehead.

Best not tell her that there's an Ancient living inside her just yet.

"Huh? There's an Ancient living inside me?"

Huh?

Oh crap, did I say that out loud?

Oh well, it's not like she's gonna figure it all out just from that. Best just treat it as a joke.

"Yeah, like a tumor."

"Ha-ha, very funny. I'd probably notice something like that before anyone else, don't you think?"

To be honest, I'm not so sure. With a person like Emilia, you just never know.

"And besides, the Ancients have been dead since ages ago... You know, Kara, you've been weird since we got to your room. Don't tell me... You did something funny to me while I asleep, didn't you? You perv!"

What the heck is this crazy girl going on about now!?

"As if! Why would I do that to a kid?"

"Hey, I'm 16! I'm not a kid and don't treat me like one, you old man!"

"Old man? I'm only two years older than you!"

"Really...? Ah, whatever! Instead of arguing like this, we might as well be working!"

The nerve of this girl!

First she accuses me of being a pervert, next she calls me old and now she preaches about working?

Last time I heard, she couldn't keep a job for any amount of time!

Really, I have no energy left for this. I don't even know why I took the bait.

"Ah, fine."

Let's just end this argument here so I can head back to my room and rest. I have A LOT to think about. And that might even be an understatement.

"Oh and let's not forget who's in charge here! I have been with the company longer, after all."

"Sure, whatever."

Give it a rest, you noisy girl. How much actual work have you done FOR the company, anyway?

"Ugh! You're not making this easy!"

Heh, it's actually quite fun to rile her up.

I thought she was gonna keep on arguing but she just sighed and then smiled at me.

Really, if she keeps her mouth shut and just smile...

I've said this before, but she's actually pretty cute.

"Oh, forget it. Just treat me the way you have been and we'll get along fine."

"Alright then, problematic girl."

"That doesn't include the name-calling! Ah, geez! You're such a jerk, know that?"

Yep.

In any case, I've seen all there is here in our ship for now. Time to get some rest.

As I prepared to transport back to Little Wing, Emilia slumped her shoulders and exhaled deeply.

"Phew. Talk about a full day. I'm tired already..."

For once, I agree with this lazy girl.

It's been such a long day, I'm not even sure if it's the same day that I met her in the relic site.

"Well, no need getting into all that relic site business again. I guess the main thing is that we're both safe."

Well, she's half-right, I guess. That relic site technically DID kill me.

"I'm just glad that we both got out alive."

"Um... about that..."

Hm? She seemed a little hesitant to continue.

"What is it now?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure how to say this..."

Just spit it out already, you annoying girl!"

"I-if it wasn't for you, I'd probably still be trapped in that relic site. But more than that, you believed me. In my dream, that is."

Huh? I'm not sure I follow...

That part where she ranted about the Seed and relic sites?

When she said nobody believed her, and I semi-jokingly told her that I did?

She took that seriously?

Emilia then smiled sincerely at me, fiddling with her fingers nervously.

"Real or not, it made me happy."

She took it seriously.

I don't get it.

And what is with this atmosphere?

Stop skipping beats for a troublesome girl, you damn heart. You're being scammed!

I must have been gawking at her for a while now since she started getting annoyed.

"Hey, stop staring at me with that weird expression! You think it's easy spilling my guts like this?"

"S-sorry."

I'm not sure what came over me but it's probably not gonna happen again.

"Ah, enough of that. I think you've heard enough about me for one day. Next time, you're in the hot seat!"

While I agree about learning enough about this annoying for one lifetime, I'm not quite sure about that part about the hot seat.

She then put one hand on her hip while pointing at me with the other, winking at me while she spoke.

"We're partners now. We have to get to know each other!"

... what's this crazy girl going on about now?


	4. V1 Ch3: Redhead Redemption

**4/10/19 - Edited Red's outfit.**

 **Leave** **a** **review** **if you please!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 1

The Holy Light's Blessings On This Wonderful System!

 **Chapter 3**

 **Redhead Redemption**

\--

 **I**

\--

"Kara, do something! AAHHHH, I'm gonna die!"

"I'm trying, you troublesome girl!"

I responded as I hurriedly chased after the giant red dragon who in turn, is chasing after my partner, Emilia.

That's right. It's this situation again.

I suppose I should start from the beginning.

It's been a few days since my official registration into Little Wing.

Since our boss, Kraz Muehler, didn't have any urgent missions for us, we decided to take on some normal missions.

Or more like, I decided to take on some normal missions, and Emilia just went along with whatever I picked.

At first, we went on some small tasks, like hunting some creatures, etc.

They went unexpectedly well. Surprisingly, Emilia was good at a support role. Though her class is officially Vanguard, same as me, she was much more oriented towards Technics.

Which fits well with my melee offense-oriented style.

We were able to complete a good number of small missions. At that rate, we should be able to steadily take on increasingly tougher missions, which also has better pay.

That was the plan, until a certain problematic partner of mine got cocky because of our recent success.

While I wasn't looking, she snuck off took a mission to hunt a De Ragan, large quadruped dragons that inhabit the Raffon Meadow on Parum.

And when I complained,

"Ah, don't worry too much, we can handle this! We're an awesome team! Don't tell you're _scared_ of an overgrown lizard?"

No, you annoying girl, that's not the problem.

I'm fairly certain that I can handle such a mission alone, though it'll take a while.

The De Ragan, while powerful, can fly, and quite fast for its size, is not as intelligent as its other dragon peers.

Its method of attack is usually predictable and easily evaded, which is why experienced mercenaries can easily dispatch of it, even if it takes some time due to its massive size.

But the problem is this girl.

While she's a _decent_ support, I'm pretty sure she's not quite ready for an oppenent of such calibre. And her over-inflated ego isn't gonna help matters.

And I'm not sure if I can fight a large enemy like this effectively while protecting her at the same time.

But since we already accepted the mission, we're not such a veteran team that we can cancel an intermediate mission without being penalized.

And so, despite my worries, we went on with the mission.

Things went well at first, with the weaker creatures. Then when we finally encountered the De Ragan, things went south real fast.

Emilia got excited and started firing off Techs at it, but it didn't do much noticeable damage.

And it was at that point that she came to her senses.

Since her lone method of damage was easily no-selled, and didn't even distract the De Ragan for any meaningful amount of time, she realized that we were pretty much screwed.

Which brings us to where we are now.

"Ahhh, it's shooting fireballs now! Karaaaa, saaave meeee!"

Cast an ice tech, you idiot!

No use, seems like she can't hear me nor think of that on her own.

I raised my handgun and madly fired at its head. The bullets all bounced off its tough scales.

Luckily, one of them hit it near the eye, causing it to wince a little and miss its intended target.

The De Ragan stopped running and seemed to notice that I was the culprit for this. It swung its two tails heavily at me.

It didn't even turn around.

I dived out of the way, and the tails passed by overhead without making contact with me.

Unfortunately, the wind pressure that came with it blew me quite a distance away.

I rolled on the ground to avoid a hard collision with any boulders and took a quick look at our situation while I picked myself up.

Emilia seemed to have stopped running and was now trying to catch her breath.

The De Ragan, however, must have realized that I was the bigger threat and started charging at me.

I rolled out of the way as the giant dragon barreled towards my previous location and kept on going, smashing some unlucky boulders.

That was a close call...!

While it was dazed, I sprinted towards it and leapt its back. I raised my saber and unleashed a continuous barrage of slashes at the back of its long neck.

The dragon roared out in pain and violently trashed around, forcing me to stop my assault and try to keep my balance.

It'd be quite dangerous if I fall now.

"Hey, Kara, are you crazy!? What are you doing up there!?"

"Shut up or you'll catch its attention again! Just hide somewher- Woah!"

I was telling Emilia to hide but the De Ragan, frustrated that it couldn't shake me off my back, started flapping its wings, causing strong gusts of wind to blow throughout the spacious meadow.

"Waaah! H-hey, Kara, get off there!"

Before I could, the De Ragan started lifting off the ground ever so slightly.

This is bad! My window of escape is steadily shrinking, I need to get off, _fast_!

I started running towards the lowest point on the dragon's body. The tip of its tails.

"Hey, you stupid dragon! Stop taking away my partner! Blast of cold, _Rabarta_!"

A small but fast blue beam emittted from Emilia's rod and exploded into a blast of cold air and ice upon hitting the De Ragan's side and wing.

I held on tight as the dragon wobbled slightly and lost a little control over its flight, causing it to descend to a few meters above the ground.

Now's my chance!

I slid down the De Ragan's tail and let go as I neared the tip, letting myself fall.

The De Ragan trashed around in the air, trying to regain control but it crashed to the ground before it could.

As soon as I hit the ground a good distance away from the De Ragan's crash site, I did a barrel roll to lessen the fall's impact. It still hurt quite a bit, though. I winced internally and didn't notice Emilia running over to me.

"H-hey, you okay!? Here! Healing light, _Resta_!"

A bright light shone from Emilia's rod, and I felt the pain subside a little.

"Thanks."

This seemed to make her a little happy as she smiled proudly.

But we kinda have bigger things to worry about right now.

True enough, the De Ragan seemed to have recovered and was now heading towards us.

"A-ah, Kara, it's coming again!"

"You don't say! Come on, let's bail!"

"H-hey, wait...!"

Ignoring her complaint, I grabbed her hand and started running away from the De Ragan's trajectory.

It seeemed to be moving slower than before. Seems like my attack, Emilia's Rabarta and its fall did quite a number on it.

But we could still lose if we're not careful.

As we were running away, from the corner of my eye, I saw a red and black blur speed towards the De Ragan.

I turned around and saw a person leap towards the giant creature and slash at its injured wing, causing it to stop charging and loudly roar out in pain.

What was that?

"Huh? What happened?"

"I think someone else attacked the De Ragan..."

I answered my partner's question and continued to watch the mystery person, now running around the side of the dragon, expertly dodge multiple claw attacks and tail swipes, retaliating by attacking the appendage they dodged.

"N-now way...! Who's that?"

I couldn't quite answer her question this time.

The figure then leapt up, using the dragon's forearm as leverage and slashed at the middle of its eyes, causing yet another roar of pain.

Next, the person jumped off the De Ragan's face and raised their weapon, which I now recognize as an orange colored double saber, and slashed at its neck.

And then another slash. And another, chipping off the durable scales protecting the dragon's hide.

And in one final slash, the mystery person _slit_ the De Ragan's throat with their weapon.

They kicked off the dragon's bloody neck and landed a good distance away while said dragon released one final, pitifully weak roar, slumped down and loudly crashed into the ground, thoroughly unmoving.

\--

 **II**

"What just happened...?"

To be honest, I'm not so sure myself.

One moment, we were trying to run away from the De Ragan and regroup.

The next, an unknown person arrived and almost effortlessly defeated said De Ragan.

Granted, it was weakened by our fight but still, to defeat it without any difficulties at all means they must be a very skilled fighter.

In any case, I think it would be best to see who our mystery person was. They still stole our target after all. Even though that target was handing our behinds to us.

"Let's check who it is."

"Huh? Are you sure that's a good idea? What if they're hostile?"

I don't think there's a high chance of that being the case. They did save us, after all.

Though Emilia does have a point. We can't be too sure. We'll have to be on guard.

"Well, let's find out then. Come on."

I was going to start walking towards the person's location but I quickly noticed that they were no longer there.

When did that...?

"Kara, what's the hold-up? ... Oh, they're gone."

"No, not "oh, they're gone"!, when did they disappear? And without a sound?"

"Looking for someone, fellas?"

"Eeeyyaaaahh!"/"Woah!"

We were quickly started by a voice from behind us.

It would appear that the culprit was a short red-headed girl.

If I were to describe her hair further, I think the best word to describe it would be a butterfly.

It was pointing out in four diagonal directions, each shaped like a flame. On each side of her head was a flower shaped hair decoration.

And she had bright red eyes.

She was wearing a black zipped hoodie and black shorts, both with yellow linings, along with a pair of red shoes. Her hoodie also seemed to have two yellow streamers protruding from the back.

Talk about not being able to decide between emo and flashy.

"Don't go scaring people like that! Who even are you!?"

Well, my partner certainly didn't waste any time.

"Well, too bad for you, huh? Name's Red. Freelance mercenary. For now, anyway."

This kid's parents certainly don't seem to be very imaginative with names.

And another freelance mercenary? There sure a lot of 'em these days.

Checking on my partner, she didn't seem to like Red's response so I raised a hand towards her to signal that I'll take care of this. This seemed to calm her down a bit.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Kara Draken, and this is my partner, Emilia Percival. We're mercenaries from Little Wing."

I politely introduced ourselves to Red, who, annoyingly, had a look of clear boredom on her face.

"Little Wing, huh? Interesting. So, you're hired mercenaries?"

"Yes, we are! Do you have a problem with it?"

Ahh, this girl. I'm getting the feeling that she doesn't like this emo girl very much.

"Well, I guess so? You almost got wiped out by that De Ragan earlier... And you didn't even notice me sneaking up on you. Wow, you're total amateurs, huh?"

"What did you say!?"

"H-hey, calm down, Emilia!"

I hurriedly caught my partner as she attempted to charge at Red, who had a slightly amused expression.

I'm getting quite irritated too. But I should be the adult here.

"Ah, excuse my partner. She gets like this."

"And what do you mean by that, huh!? Whose side are you on, anyway!?"

Ah, crap. Looks like she changed targets.

Emilia continued on trying to break free from my hold so I had no choice but to continue restraining her while attempting to talk to Red.

"Eh, no worries. I'd expect that from an amateur, really."

"WHAT!? When I get my hands on you, I'll...!"

You'll get your butt handed to you in record time, I'm sure.

Though, I had to strengthen my hold on her as she started trashing around harder that it's actually starting to hurt.

"A-anyway, thanks for assisting us earlier."

"Ah, don't mind it. I was just passing by, actually. Take the credit for the kill, if you want."

Well, that's certainly doubly lucky for us.

In any case, we should get going and file a mission report as soon as we get back to Clad 6.

"Hey, Kara, how long are you gonna hold me? Wait, you're enjoying this, aren't you? Ah, I knew it. Let me go, you perv!"

"The hell? If I let you go, you're gonna go nuclear again, so shut up and stay still!"

This annoying girl...!

"Ahaha, you guys are a riot! You sure you're mercenaries?"

"You...!"

This _other_ annoying girl...! Stop provoking my troublesome partner, already!

Why am I surrounded by problem children? What did I even do to deserve this?

A little while later, Emilia finally stoped trashing around.

"Haa... Can you let me go now? This is really tiring..."

"Alright, I'll let you go, just don't cause a ruckus, alright? Stop falling for her taunts."

I was really getting tired of restraining this noisy girl.

And so I let her go. Thankfully, she didn't seem to have any plans on charging Red again.

"Well, we should get going now. We still need to file a mission report."

"Huh? Oh, sure, you'll handle that, right?"

This lazy girl. Can't she at least do that?

"Oh, you guys are leaving?"

Red asked us as we started walking towards the direction of our ship.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks again for earlier."

"Sure, don't mention it, miss."

...what?

Did this kid just call me that?

"Pfft!"

Don't you laugh, you annoying partner! Isn't this joke getting a bit old!?

"I'm sorry, but I'm a guy."

"Huh? But I thought your name was Kara...?"

Now, I'm fairly certain this kid's just playing dumb!

"Yes, that is indeed my name."

"Oh... So you're a guy with a female name... got it."

"Now you listen here, you little kid!"

"K-Kara!?"

Ignoring my partner who seemed shocked by my outburst, I marched towards Red.

My irritation was steadily building up over the course of our interaction but it just reached the tipping point.

I expected her to start laughing because I lost my cool, what with the gigantic troll she's turning out to be.

But surprisingly, I seem to have struck a chord with my "little kid" insult as she recoiled quite a bit.

Heh. Turns out this kid is only good at dishing it out.

"Kid!? I'm not a kid, I'm seventeen! I'm just a late bloomer!"

"She's older than me!?"

Emilia shouted out in surprise. I was quite shocked myself but I kept that in.

"Late bloomer, my ass! You're just short, butterfly head!"

Indeed, Red was a whole head shorter than me.

"B-butterfly head!?"

"Ahahahaha!"

Lauging in the background was my not-so-useful partner. She seemed to be enjoying watching Red on the receiving side of the burns.

Since I was able to release my annoyance, I managed to calm myself down.

Really, how unprofessional of me.

"Ah, sorry, lost my cool there."

"Err... yeah, I went too far too..."

Red sheepishly apologized as she crossed her arms and turned her head to the side.

"Hey, aren't you gonna apologize to me too?"

"Forget it, Emilia, come on, let's go."

Really, Red seems to be done making fun of us so can't this troublesome girl just let it go?

"Huh? Why would I...? Aren't you just this guy's extra baggage?"

"Why you _little_...!"

I was wrong.

\--

 **III**

\--

"Ooohh, the nerve of that little girl..."

Emilia groaned out as she slumped down on one of our ship's seats.

When I saw her about to charge Red again, I grabbed her and quickly ran back to our ship, shouting out a quick "bye" to the redhead.

Emilia managed to calm herself down significantly by the time we reached our ship, thankfully.

Said ship was now on auto-pilot back towards Clad 6.

"When I see her again, I'll...!"

"Can't you just let it go? You've been mumbling to yourself for a while now."

"You're one to talk. You flipped out earlier too!"

Yes, I indeed lost my calm for a moment there.

That girl, Red. She seemed to be very skilled at irritating people.

In the short time I've known Emilia, I'd never seen her fly into a frenzy like that before.

Even I, the level-headed one, or at least I think I am, got a little heated.

Red was just a natural troll, it looks like. Though that doesn't take away the fact that she's an immensely skilled mercenary.

She was able to beat that De Ragan without breaking a sweat, whereas we had our hands full from the get-go. Though that's to be partially blamed on Emilia messing up at the beginning.

"Still, for a mercenary of her calibre, I'm curious why she's freelance..."

I wondered out loud while slumping down on my seat. That mission was tiring, in more ways then one.

"Hmm, maybe she just likes working alone? With her attitude, I won't be surprised if she's an outcast..."

My partner said some valid points. I don't think she'll get along well with people due to her behavior.

But it's not like you _can't_ work alone when you're a hired mercenary. Maybe she has her reasons on why she prefers being freelance.

"But still, it's gotta be easier being hired. I can certainly attest to that."

The pay isn't drastically higher, but the _steadiness_ of the income is really the difference maker. Jobs are always available, and you can choose one that suits your skill level.

Which my partner did badly on in our current mission. We're really lucky that Red was passing by, if we're to believe her words.

"Huh? Why do you say so?"

Oh, right. This girl doesn't have experience being freelance. Must be the reason why she doesn't value hard work at all. Tch, some people.

Well, I guess I better explain. Who knows, this might cause a change in her or something.

"Well, for one, a steady income is a godsend in our current economy. What with the recent resource dwindling and all."

It's really hard to live everyday when you're uncertain how much money you're gonna earn each day.

But with a steady income, I can even splurge a little with my savings.

I was even able to replace my black coat that got destroyed when I was, well, _killed_ by that Svaltia.

For the curious, I was now wearing a long sleeved, raised collared, blue long coat with black highlights.

Emilia nodded along as I went on with my explanation. Good, she's listening.

"There's also the matter of transportation. It's difficult when a job calls for you to go to an another planet."

The fee for interplanetary transport isn't cheap, mind you. Which is why having a company property ship assigned to you is very convenient.

"And of course, probably the best thing is the living conditions."

"What, really?"

"Yeah, really. Where I turn in for the night pretty much depends on my earnings for the day. Hotels, Inns, even a cave. I slept in a lot of places."

Which is why I'm really glad Little Wing comes with free roomings. Even if I'm broke, at least I still have a place to rest.

Emilia made a face of understanding and softly said "ooohh". I really hope she truly understands how lucky she is to be hired right from the start.

"Oh, right, you have your own room. Boy, some people have all the luck. I wish I had my own room."

Wait, how did I turn out to be the lucky one? Wasn't I the one who got trapped in a relic site with an annoying person?

Well, she got trapped too, yes, but I'm pretty sure I'm not nearly as loud and annoying as her.

"You don't?"

In any case, she just said something interesting.

"No, I'm sharing."

Ah, so that's the situation. Well, with her attitude towards work, I'd understand if Kraz thinks she doesn't deserve her own room yet.

I was told she couldn't keep a job for any amount of time, and that she'd just laze around in bed the whole day if left alone.

"I mean, I'm sure it's tough looking out for yourself all the time, but think of me, stuck with the boss!"

Wait, really? She's rooming with _Kraz_?

I expected Chelsea or someone else, maybe even Kunoh. But she's sharing a room with the boss himself?

Wow, he must really want to keep an eye on this problematic girl closely. There's that tsundere parent vibe again.

"He doesn't cook, or do the laundry, or clean, like _EVER_. I have to do everything!"

"Sounds like someone I know."

She ignored my remark and kept on ranting about her living situation.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he's just doing that so she wouldn't completely be a sack of potatoes and laze around 24/7,

But I'm pretty sure he's just being lazy. Heh, these two are quite similar if you would just squint a little.

"Must be really tough, huh?"

"You have no idea."

Believe me, I do.

I'll keep that comment to myself, though. I have no energy for another argument.

"Well, at least now I have a place to hide when things get really bad."

She said while smiling at me.

I have this feeling she's talking about my room.

No way. I'm a little nervous about that "things getting really bad" part. I'd probably be labeled an accomplice if she hides out in my room.

"You mean, Chelsea's room?"

"What? I'm talking about your room! Oh c'mon, we're partners now! Can't you be a little more partner-ish?"

And what, pray tell, does being more partner-ish mean?

Ah, this girl is tiring me out faster than I can rest.

Our little conversation, though, was interrupted by the comms system beeping, signalling an incoming transmission.

"Blech. This isn't gonna be good news."

Emilia lightly complained as she answered the transmission.

"Uh huh. Uh huh... He told me paid his tab this month. Well, that may be true, but- Okay, I understand. I'll give him the message."

She closed the transmission and wearily slumbed back down on her seat with a sigh.

I asked.

"What tab?"

"Not mine! I'm not even old enough to have a bar tab!"

Woah, why is she getting so defensive? I never even suggested that it was hers.

She must have realized this and calmed down while muttering a quick "sorry".

Anyway, now that she said it was a bar tab, I'm getting the feeling it's for Kraz.

"It's for the boss, isn't it?"

"Yeah, who else? Half the calls we get are from bars trying to get him to pay up."

I'm getting a bit worried about the fact that our boss is such an alcoholic.

But hey, as long as I can work relatively peaefully and get paid, I'm not gonna file a complaint or anything.

"It gets old fast, you know? He says I'm lazy, but most days he's off in some bar by noon."

"Well, it's not like he can use company money to pay it off, right?"

"Yeah, but, isn't he being a little unfair? To me, specifically."

Emilia's got a point.

If he's gonna reprimand her about not working hard, then the least he's gotta do is work hard himself.

Well, of course, that's just what I think.

"I'm not saying he has to work dawn to dusk, but he could put in an honest day at work every now and then. Some guardian, eh?"

Oh right, I keep forgetting he's Emilia's legal guardian. Well, I can't be blamed if he does a good job of not showing it.

Whatever, it's not my problem to solve. It's not like me and Kraz are close enough that I can have a heart-to-heart with him about his work habits.

In any case, Emilia seemed to be satisfied that I'm at least listening to her complaints. This must be a first for her.

"Well, we better bring him that message, then."

At my statement, Emilia only sighed once more.

\--

 **IV**

"H-hey, Kara! Can you come over here?"

Emilia called out to me.

The moment I disembarked from our ship, I found her standing in front of the office's doors, looking like a lost kitten.

Well, I guess the report can wait. I made my way over to her. She brightened up a little at this.

"What is it?"

"Uh... You wouldn't, um, coming with me to see the boss, would you?"

"You still haven't given him the message?"

I sighed in slight exasperation.

The moment we arrived back here in Clad 6, she immediately transported out of the ship ahead of me wordlessly.

I thought she was going to tell Kraz about the tab so I didn't pay any heed to it. Turns out that wasn't the case.

"Err, no. You see, my stomach does flips just thinking about it. Sorry, but can I trouble you?"

You always do.

Really. Why did she even rush out before me if she's just gonna get cold feet and wait for me anyway?

I'm just gonna have to get used to such problematic behavior, it seems.

"Sure, whatever."

Well, it's not like it's gonna be something difficult. Might as well do what she wants.

"Thanks, Kara."

She smiled at me as she thanked me.

I guess I can let this slide.

I took the lead and went forward to the office doors, with Emilia following close behind.

As soon as the doors slid open, I could clearly hear a musical jingle. One that goes with those news shows.

"Hi! You're watching Gurhal Channel 5, with our headline news! I'm Hal... with today's top stories!"

See? It _was_ a news show.

Seems like Chelsea's the one watching. And she's also watching quite seriously, as if she's anticipating something.

Curious, I decided to check it out. Emilia didn't seem to have any complaints about this and peeked over too.

"After two years of construction, a ceremony was held last month to celebrate completion of a new subspace generator on Parum."

Ah, really? I'm quite out of the loop. Not that I care.

"Natsume Shu, spokesperson for Inhelt Corporation, and the genius behind subspace theory, was on hand to kick things off. He was joined by military officials and an endless parade of industry giants."

An old but prim looking person was shown on screen.

Ah, so that's Natsume Shu. The brains behind the subspace stuff. I've heard about him before but I didn't really pay much attention.

Really, these things shouldn't concern mercenaries too much. It's a different world from ours.

But I guess hopes _are_ high that this new facility is gonna lead to breakthroughs in subspace research.

I'm guessing this is because of the resource dwindling. Should this research prove successful, that problem may be solved, or so I've heard.

"If all goes well, manned subspace flight may be just around the corner. This research could be the key to solving Gurhal's current natural resource problems."

The purple-haired reporter, Hal, said.

And right after that, she did a quick outro, and the news was over.

I looked over at Chelsea and she was looking quite aghast.

"Zut Alors? The news is over already? How can that be?"

I didn't know Chelsea was such a fan of news shows.

I glanced at Emilia and she gave me a quick shrug before turning over to Chelsea.

"What's the big deal, Chels?"

"They said nothing about Skyclad! After all the money we spend on the subspace program, our name should be in lights!"

Ah, so she wasn't a news fan. My bad.

But still, I was quite surprised that Skyclad is contributing to the subspace research.

Though, I really shouldn't be, I realized. Skyclad is a very big company, after all. And they're connected to a lot of stuff.

But...

"It won't do much to help business around here. We're just a subsidiary, after all."

Exactly what my partner said. I doubt that Little Wing's gonna get much publicity even if Skyclad does.

But hey, don't ask me about this stuff. I'm just going off on what I think and heard.

"But we're not here to talk PR. Is the boss around?"

Oh right, we were going to deliver a message. It completely slipped my mind.

Well, in any case, Chelsea seemed to have recovered from her... uh, shock, and was now back in receptionist mode.

"Mais oui. In fact, Monsieur Kraz was just saying he wanted to see you two. I see the news, and completely forget."

Well, I guess Chelsea's got her unique qualities, huh?

"Eh, don't worry about it. So he's over there?"

"Since you are going to see him anyway, could you take him this?

Chelsea handed a piece of paper to Emilia. I couldn't quite read the contents without looking closer.

Emilia looked it over and gradually formed an "I'm done with this" expression on her face.

What's on that paper...?

"A receipt from... Red Velvet Lingerie, Dagora City?"

Ah, I see.

What a legend.

"That... that doesn't sound like much of a business expense..."

I commented a little absent-mindedly.

Emilia gave off a "you think?" look, while Chelsea nodded.

"The head office agrees with you. They will not reimburse it. Tell him it'll be coming out of his own pocket!"

"That dirty old...! No wonder he can't afford to pay his bar tabs! What's he even thinking!?"

No, no, no.

He is a legend.

"Take it up with him. Complaints are not my department!"

And Chelsea sends us off like a pro.

Well, I guess it's true, though. If we have complaints, we gotta take it to him.

Not that I will. I'm still new here so I'll keep my mouth shut a little.

Can't say the same for my partner, though, who was now marching angrily towards Kraz's desk.

What happened to all that flipping stomach business earlier, then?

"We need to ta- pew wee! What the- Are you drinking your alcohol or bathing in it!?"

I followed Emilia to the boss and immediately realized what she was complaining about.

Kraz didn't seem particularly bothered about that, though. He might even be enjoying it.

"Oh, there you are."

He said as he lazily acknowledged our presence.

Which riled up Emilia even more.

"Don't "there you are" me!? You got another call from a bar asking for pay!"

There, she delivered the message. Can we go now? I feel like I might get drunk from the smell alone.

"And would you care to explain this?"

She slammed the legendary piece of paper on his deck.

Why do I feel like I'm watching a daughter lecture her deatbeat father...?

"One o' my receipts. What are you doing with that?"

"You didn't really think they'd let you expense this, did you? Have you drowned all of your common sense?"

"That's completely legit. You gotta lay the groundwork before you close the deal. Now if you don't mind, we have business to discuss."

A legend, I tell you.

Before Emilia could clap back, Kraz straightened out (a little) and looked like he had something important to discuss.

"Cheer up. It's the perfect job for you two."

A handpicked job?

I guess it's a good thing he doesn't know about the mess that was our recent mission.

Else, he's gonna get a different idea of a perfect job for us.

Emilia was actually listening, right now. Color me surprised.

"This is an urgent, top-of-the-action-item-list sort of job. There's somebody we need to track down."

Ah, a search mission. Haven't gone on much of those.

Me and Emilia nodded as we listened to the details of the job.

"A missing person search? Who is it? A witness in a murder trial? Some corporate bigwig."

What's my partner saying? Isn't that too much?

It's probably gonna be a thief or a missing mercenary something. Well, as long as the pay's good.

Meanwhile, Kraz had an amused grin on his face. Ooohh, that can't be good.

"Not quite. It's someone I loaned some money to a while back. And you're going to collect."

Ah, it's an errand.

If he wasn't my boss, I'd have walked out right before he finished that sentence.

Well, there's still gotta be pay, right...?

"Wait, this job's for you? Go find him yourself!"

"Just can it, you!"

And we're back to our regular telecast of father-daughter quarreling. Oh wait, maybe it's guardian-noisy girl...

"Because someone around here botched up a job at a certain relic site, we can't get any real work!"

"Well, when you put it that way..."

Emilia quited down quite fast, it's almost comical.

I snickered at her, which she didn't like, at all.

"Hey, you were there too, you know!"

"Wasn't in Little Wing back then."

She released an exasperated sigh and turned back towards Kraz, who was typing at his device.

Before long, a holographicpicture of a grey-haired person with middle aged features and beast ears appeared on Kraz's desk.

"Your target is one Wurley Kokov. Male beast, age fifty one. His ship's been sighted in the Crodog Region of Moatoob. No city, no casinos... last place I'd expect him to be."

What kinda name is that?

Whatever. Seems like we're taking a field trip to Moatoob, then. In the forested areas, too.

"If you know where he is, why not get him yourself?"

Emilia muttered quietly but I picked it up just fine. I'm assuming Kraz did too as hus expression turned into an annoyed one.

Don't underestimate a beast's hearing prowess.

I mean, these ears aren't just for show.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Nothing! C'mon, let's get out of here before the fumes start getting to us!"

She quickly denied everything and hurriedly grabbed my arm.

Hey, watch it.

"Good. We have a new recruit coming in. Can't have you messing it up."

Huh, really?

We're not getting much work, but there's someone who wants to sign up?

"Hey, what do you mean I'll mess it up? Ah, whatever! C'mon, Kara, let's just go!"

"Hey, wait...!"

Emilia didn't seem to particularly care though, and tagged me along as she hastily marched towards the exit.

And just like that, I was dragged out of the office.

\--

 **V**

\--

I stepped out onto the slightly damp ground, a few leaves crunching beneath my foot's weight.

We were now in the planet of Moatoob, in the Crodog Region, specifically.

"Hey, Emilia, come on, let's get this over with."

I called out to my partner, who was still complaining about the job.

Really, just get over it. If we do this properly, Kraz might give us some real jobs in the future.

"Ugh, where does he get _off_!? Kara, do we LOOK like his personal debt collectors to you?"

"Right now, yes. Come on."

I looked around and I saw lots of other ships parked all around.

I thought this was a rainforest? What's up with all these ships? Some kind of festival going on?

"What was boss talking about? I was expecting the middle of nowhere, but this place is like a parking lot. How are we ever going to find Wurley out here...?"

Emilia complained yet again. I think it'd be best if I ignore her for now. She's not gonna stop, anyway.

"Not that we should be doing HIS dirty work for him in the first place."

Well, he's our boss. As absurd as his request may get, we should still follow.

Though that's now what Emilia thinks, I believe.

"As if expensing lingerie wasn't bad enough, now he's using the company to run errands. Someone needs to set him straight."

"Then why don't you say something?"

Really, if all she's gonna do is complain, then why not talk to Kraz herself?

Though, that might not be a good idea since she's not exactly that much better.

But at least she doesn't buy lingerie with company money. What was he even gonna do with those?

Wear them? Now that's disturbing...

"Fat chance. He never listens to anything I say."

Yeah, I should have guessed.

When it comes to people wanting to know what I have to say, I'm really bad. Most of the time, I answer before I think.

And this is one of those situations. What do I say now?

"If that's how it is, that's how it is. As far as he's concerned, I'm only taking up space."

Ugh... damn it. Don't make such a sad face. I don't know what to say.

See, this is why I don't meddle with other people's business. What if I only make things worse?

I looked away.

Ah, really. Good job, Kara. Some partner you are.

"Sigh... I just want him to show me a little more respect. Is that too much to ask?"

At the very least, I'll be honest.

"Let's just finish this mission."

"You really think that'll change his mind about me?"

For a moment, I thought she was being sarcastic.

But I looked back, and she was looking at me hopefully.

Damn it, don't do that. Sometimes, I forget that she's still young. Well, I'm not much older but I guess I matured faster because of my job.

Emilia's just a sheltered kid.

"Y-yeah, I'm sure."

I stuttered out, almost biting my tongue.

"Ah, fine... I don't even like these investigations, much less fighting... But if you say it'll change his mind, then I guess I'll bear with it."

She's smiling at me again.

Why do I get the feeling I'm becoming this kid's emotional crutch?

But I guess it's not so bad, if she's like this. When she starts getting loud again, then that's a different story.

"Hey, someone's coming."

I told my partner as I spotted a figure approaching us.

It seems to be a short, dark-skinned male beast.

The person looked us over and gave us a slightly cross look.

"You- what are you doing here?"

He asked.

"You don't look like the kind of people who go around visiting cultural heritage sites."

Well, he's got good observation.

"We're looking for someone."

I told him, which seemed to ease uo his expression a little.

"Um, did something happen here? Why are there so many ships?"

Emilia asked, while slightly hiding behind my back.

If I didn't know any better, I'd chuckle at her getting intimadated by a kid.

But with beasts, you never know. He could turn out to be old enough to be our dad.

"We just got here ourselves. We haven't had much time to look around. So far, it looks like we're the only people here."

True, there aren't any people around despite the number of ships.

As I thought of possible reasons as to why, another short beast approached us. This time, a female.

"No luck, Tonnio. The pace is dead. You do better? Oh, you found someone."

The female beast said, giving us a quick look-over too before turning her attention back to the male, Tonnio.

"But not who we were expecting. They're here on their own manhunt."

"Who's that?"

Emilia asked, now a little recovered from her initial intimidation.

Tonnio straightenied out, and looked like he forgot something.

"Guess we skipped the introductions, huh? We're mercenaries. Name's Tonnio Rhima."

"And I'm Liina Rhima. My husband and I work together."

Husband? So they are older than us.

It's not that weird. Beasts are just like that. If I remember correctly, they were called Beastlings.

Emilia nodded, still a bit wary, and prepared to introduce herself.

"We work for a company named Little Wing. I'm Emilia Percival, and this is my partner, Kara Draken."

Please don't mind my name.

Thankfully, they didn't. Even Emilia seemed to have realized that it was getting old and pushed the conversation forward.

Or maybe she's not that comfortable joking around with older people?

"Looking for someone, too?"

"We were hired to patrol the heritage site."

Emilia looked confused at Tonnio's answer.

"Heritage site?"

He looked quite aghast.

"Wait wait wait. You you came here without even knowing what the place was?"

"Lighten up, I'm new at this!"

There's that loudness we were missing.

"If this is a heritage site, where are all the tourists? There are certainly enough ships to go around..."

She's got a point.

I've never seen such a deserted heritage site.

"You've got good instincts, at least."

Tonnio perked up a little and complimented her, causing her to close her eyes and smile proudly.

Please don't inflate her ego again.

"Something definitely feels wrong here. The wildlife is acting strange too. Out for blood. There must be something going on inside the site."

The female, Liina supplied.

True, I feel like we're being watched for quite some time now.

"We aren't going to figure out what it is standing around. The answers are in there."

Tonnio pondered out loud, before perking up as an idea seemingly came to him.

"We seem to be going the same way. Why not go together?"

That's not a bad suggestion, actually.

They seem to be veterans at this so our journey will probably go much easier.

Though it will probably go vice versa for them. What with this problematic girl beside me.

"We'll only slow you down."

"I know who you mean by "we". Stop looking at me like that!"

Tonnio and Liina chuckled at our little spat and looked at each other.

"They kinda remind me our first mission together, don't you think?"

Woah, what?

Way off the mark there, bud.

"W-we're not like that! Not at all!"

Why are you getting embarrassed, you annoying girl!? Stop getting red, damn it!

Ugh, whatever.

"Hahaha, relax. We're just kidding."

"Don't worry if you're still a little wet behind the ears. I'll go in with low expectations, eh?"

Well, it seems like the team-up is happening then.

I'm honestly grateful I can have assistance in getting my partner out of trouble.

Looks like things are gonna go alright for once!

"... not like that at all..."

"Stop mumbling, you creepy girl!"

Or maybe not.


	5. V1 Ch4: Kasch It In

**I blame college, sleep, Stardew Valley, and Graveyard Keeper.**

\--

Little Wing It

Volume 1

The Holy Light's Blessings On This Wonderful System!

 **Chapter 4**

 **Kasch It In**

\--

 **I**

\--

"Look, Kasch markings!"

Liina exclaimed as she rushed towards a wall, Tonnio following her closely.

On the wall's surface was writing that was completely unfamiliar to me.

Liina was crouched down on the floor, examining the writing carefully. Me and Emilia followed them.

"What's up?"

Emilia asked. Seems like she's gotten aaccustomed to the two veteran mercenaries.

"We're heading in the right direction. The Kasch is in the rainforest."

Liina helpfully supplied.

Before we started our little journey, Tonnio and Linnia suggested that we go to the Kasch village to get a clue as to what's going on.

The Kasch are a nomad village, but they leave behind markings so their friends can always locate them.

The writing's normally unreadable for us non-Kasch, but lucky for us, Liina studied the language beforehand.

"So this is what these markings look like. Pretty cool, huh, Kara?"

My partner commented as she admired the strange writing.

Well, I guess they are a bit unique.

"So we're headed over there? Doesn't look like a part of Crodog very much..."

The area I mentioned has virtually no paved ways, and are mostly caves and trees, with some occational artificial lights.

Tonnio was the one to respond to my inquiry, and nodded to affirm my statement.

"Yeah, hasn't been much development there. The Kasch likes those kinda places."

Ah, geez, what a troublesome bunch.

Our destination set for the meantime, we prepared to head out.

But that was interrupted by a loud sound echoing from around us.

And no it wasn't Emilia.

It was more of a buzzing sound quickly approaching us.

"H-hey, what's that?"

Emilia shakingly asked while summoning her rod.

I didn't need to answer as a pair of Veggas, big, winged, insect-like creatures appeared from above us.

I quickly summoned my go-to saber-gun combo and entered a battle stance, Tonnio and Liina doing the same.

The Veggas kept spiraling above us and shot out lasers instead of attacking head-on, as I expected.

"Everybody, spread out!"

Tonnio shouted out and we dispersed, rollinv out of the way of the Vegga's ranged attacks.

Picking myself up, I aimed my gun at one Vegga as hard as I could and fired a couple of bullets.

A few managed to hit it, and it recoiled away to relative safety, the other one following it shortly.

Damn, if we could just hit them, this'd be over shortly. I'd need to think a bit.

Ah, wait!

These Veggas seem to be Earth-elemental so a well-placed electrical attack should do the trick!

"Emilia, can you-"

"[Razonde]!"

Yeah, do that.

Huh, she thought of doing that herself. Looks like our time spent doing those small missions paid off.

A loud, musical, electrical bang reverberated in the air as Emilia's Razonde hit both of the Veggas in one go.

From the smoke, two burnt and unmoving Veggas dropped out and crashed into the ground.

Well, that was anticlimactic.

"Good work!"

Tonnio complimented us as he walked towards us and dismissed his weapons, Liina following soon after.

"Yeah, you seem to be experienced enough! I don't know why you'd think you'll slow us down."

"Haha, well..."

I didn't know how to respond to Liina's statement there.

I looked over at Emilia. She seemed to be _shocked_ , pun not intended, for a few seconds that her attack worked.

And then she dismissed her rod with a smug look on her face.

Yeah, I can't just tell them.

"Hey! Hey, Kara! Didja see that?"

"Yeah, good job."

For a second there, I thought I made a mistake complimenting her.

We really don't need a repeat of that De Ragan incident, after all.

But she just grinned at me and went on her merry way.

Guess I worried for nothing, then.

"To be honest, I was a little worried about hanging back a bit. But you guys seem to be able to take care of things."

Ah, really, there's no need for such praise.

I'd bet Emilia just got startled and used Razonde at random.

But looking at her, all smiles, there's no need for me to rain on her little parade.

"Hey, there are Kasch markings here too!"

Emilia called out to us, crouching down next to a rock that indeed had what appears to be Kasch writing.

And right in front of her was a fork in the road, with one of them blocked by a wall of fire.

... you know, one would usually notice the wall of fire first. Tonnio and Liina didn't seem to mind, though.

"Let me see... yep, these are in Kasch."

"What do they say, Liina?"

"Hmm... "We do not fear the flame. Fear will consume those who embrace it." That's what it says."

"Don't fear? Head towards the flame?"

Well, if that's what its says on the markings then.

The Kasch probably put that fire there so no one can find them. It must be a projection of some sort.

I walked towards the fire and slowly reached out my hand towards it.

Huh, it doesn't burn at all.

"Hey, it's not hot."

I walked past it without getting singed at the slightest.

Tonnio and Liina nodded at each other, smiling, and passed by the fire as well.

I feel like we're being secretly evaluated here...

"Um... Do I just walk through?"

"Yes, yes, you do, come on."

"Err... Okay."

Emilia followed soon after, timidly testing out the fire first with her hand.

Realizing that it's not hot at all, she made a quick leap through it over to our side.

"Hey, that's pretty cool!"

Not hard to please, are ya?

Well, whatever, that's one trap out of the way.

We started walking again but then I felt a presence watching us.

What was that?

I pretended not to notice and continued walking, but the presence seemed to be following us.

I don't know if Tonnio and Liina noticed or not, but if they did, they're probably doing the same thing as I am.

Then a quiet rustle in the trees, and the presence was gone.

Come to think of it, I felt like we were being watched as well when we first landed here.

Better watch our step.

\--

 **II**

\--

"We fear... flower. All but purple... poison. Death... awaits."

Liina read the contents of the markings in broken fragments. It wad worn away so she probably can't make out all of them.

This was the fifth marking we had encountered on this journey.

It's probably been around an hour now. With all the walking, searching, and fighting hostile wildlife, I couldn't really keep track.

Every fork on the road had a marking and a trap. Thanks to Liina's ability to read Kasch, we were able to avoid the traps.

And each time we did, the presence would return, watch us for a few seconds, and then disappear.

Sometimes, I'd even manage to, for a split second, catch a glimpse of gold, slitted eyes.

At first, we didn't pay much heed to it. But with every successive trap we avoid, the presence becomes stronger, its time watching us increasingly.

I could see Tonnio and Linna becoming more wary as we went on.

"Purple flower? Hey, it's that one over there, right?"

Emilia doesn't seem to be noticing the presence, though, and she ran ahead towards said purple flower.

It leads to a path which is probably the correct one. All the other paths had orange flowers in front.

Just as Emilia reached what we assume to be the non-trapped path, the presence returned, its stare much more intense than the last time.

"Hey, wait up!"

Liina quickly followed the oblivious Emilia, leavinv me and Tonnio behind.

She must have noticed the presence too.

"Feel that?"

"Yeah..."

He asked me as soon as we were sure the others were out of earshot.

"They might be picking a fight, so be on guard."

I nodded at him, and he started walking towards the path the two girls took.

The presence seems to be gone for now, but if its behavior is any indication, we must be getting close to the village.

"Hmm... looks like we're closer than I thought."

That was Emilia's voice...

I turned the corner, and I saw a wall with Kasch markings on it, Emilia examining it, and a dumbfounded Tonnio and Liina.

I approached the examining one.

"Why'd you say so?"

"Hmm? Oh, I think this might be the last marking. It's different from the others. Look how detailed it us."

And Tonnio and Liina got even more dumbfounded.

... say what now?

"Y-you can read that?"

Liina shakingly asked out.

"Huh? Yeah, I was watching over your shoulder all this time..."

"So was I, but I can't read them yet!"

My silence was me sharing Tonnio's sentiments.

Did this girl just memorize an ancient language just from seeing a few markings?

What the heck?

I looked at her, and she had that face that didn't seem to think it was a big deal.

This is just like that time from the relic site! Who even is this girl?

"H-hey, why're you all looking at me like that? I thought everyone can read them. Hey, Kara, can you read it?"

"Yes, I can."

"Huh? Really?"

Of course not, you annoying girl!

"Um... then which way does it say we should go?"

"We find a friendly Kog Nadd and ride off to the sunset."

"... hey! You can't read it at all, can you?! That's not funny!"

"You're doing the same thing, you annoying girl! You're probably just making stuff up so we could get this over with!"

"I'm not! I really can read them!"

Tonnio and Liina watched our back-and-forth with unreadable expressions.

Please don't look at me like that, I'm losing the will to continue arguing!

"Look, it says we need to cross that bridge! Right, Liina?"

"Uh? Oh, y-yeah..."

And then she looked at me with an irritatingly smug expression, hands on her waist.

Ah, whatever, already.

"Fine, you win."

"Hmph!"

With a huff, she stomped ahead.

... are you a child?

"Hey, wa-"

I stopped.

It was the presence again.

Tonnio and Linna seemed to have noticed it too, judging by the expression on their faces.

But something was off. It felt different.

Before, it was just an intense feeling of being watched, almost like a cautious wild animal.

But now, it was so _hostile_. And it seemed to be waiting for us to make a move before it strikes.

"Hey, come on, let's go!"

You idiot...!

Before she cohld even finish her sentence, the presence shifted its attention to her and started moving.

And I started moving too.

"Watch it!"

"Ah, K-Kara?!"

Just like in the relic site, with no time to think, I pushed her away.

And a fast, photon arrow sailed past beside my ear and hit a tree trunk behind us, burning a clean hole through it.

... that was far too close.

Thankfully, there weren't any giant mechanical hands coming in to crush me.

Emilia seemed to be too shocked to register what happened and just stared at me from the ground.

"H-hey, you alright?!"

Tonnio and Liina came running over, searching frantically for our assailant.

"Yeah, we're good..."

I breathed out, my ears still ringing, relieved that we were safe, but worried about the fact that me or Emilia could have had an arrow on the head.

"Tonnio, over there!"

Liina pointed towards the bushes, and this time, we could see it clearly.

Holding a longbow, was a young, black-haired male with pointed ears, wearing strange, yellow and black clothing.

And he had the same gold, slitted eyes that was watching us.

The boy, who seemed to be half a head shorter than me, stepped out from the bushes.

"Stay where you are!"

He shouted out, his longbow's aim firmly placed on us.

However, his threat wasn't even finished yet when Tonnio started charging him, his claw weapon summoned on his right arm.

"You're mine!"

Tonnio leapt and pulled back his weapon, intending to strike at out assailant.

The boy looked off-guard before acting quickly and raised an arm in the air.

And big, red, pointed circles appeared on his back, and a giant armored creature, covered in red with an arm shaped like a hammer, appeared from behind him.

Don't tell me...!

The creature pulled back its hammer fist, covering it in flames, and punched.

With no way to dodge in midair, Tonnio could only cross his arms to defend.

And then a loud, fiery explosion filled the area.

\--

 **III**

"*cough*cough*! Emilia, where are you?!"

"R-right here!"

I called out to her, unable to see very well because of the smoke.

I managed to locate her and grabbed her hand and pulled her behind me. We can't be sure that the boy wouldn't attack again.

After a while, the smoke cleared and I could still see the boy, still eyeing us cautiously.

Right, what happened to Tonnio?

"*cough!* Huh, Liina...?"

That sounded like him!

A few meters away from the blast's center was Tonnio and Liina, slumoed down on the floor.

What a relief. Looks like Liina managed to push Tonnio away from the explosion radius, just barely.

"Come no closer! I won't let you harm my village!"

Village? Ah, so he's a Kasch. In hindsight, I should have figured that out earlier.

But still, the attack he displayed earlier...

That was definitely a Mirage Blast.

As a beast, I can't do the same, but since this boy was able to, he must be a Newman. His pointed ears confirm that fact.

"What's his problem?"

"Did something happen to your village?"

Liina shushed Tonnio, who was miffed about almost being blown up, and asked the Kasch boy, aiming to diffuse the situation.

"What do you care?! My family, my village- I'll protect them! I won't let you harm us!"

And then he leapt at the two, spear drawn. Great, no diffusing then.

I looked back at Emilia. She still seems to be shaken up by almost being arrowed.

"Hey, just hide here for now. No need to force yourself."

I'm not gonna gain anything from being needlessly cruel and forcing her to fight.

And she's not gonna be able to contribute much in this state, anyway.

I was about to head on and assist Tonnio and Liina but I felt my sleeve being tugged at.

"N-no, I can help! I'll support, you lead!"

I was about to refuse but I saw a determined look on her eyes. Ah, whatever. I'll just have to do my best to protect her.

As always. Heh.

"Alright. Let's go."

We exchanged nods and then we ran at the Kasch boy.

Surprisingly, he was able to keep up with Tonnio and Liina, despite being outnumbered.

He's very proficient with his spear, which gives him an advantage against the shorter range of Tonnio's claws and Liina's daggers.

I have to be wary of that too.

I summoned my saber and shield, opting to play defensively. I set them to stun instead of kill.

The Kasch boy stabbed at the ground, causing Tonnio and Liina to jump away and give me an opening.

I slashed down, and he dodged by dismissing his spear and jumping backwards.

He summoned his longbow again, shooting at me with weaker but faster shots.

I blocked with my shield, but due to me being in mid-air, I was pushed back by a bit by the force.

"[Zonde]!"

A small bolt of electricity shot from Emilia's rod and flew towards the Kasch boy.

He quickly dismissed his longbow and summined his spear yet again, attempting to at least lessen the damage of the blast.

A fairly strong bang flung him back towards the ground, where Tonnio charged at him with twin claws.

Kasch boy managed to parry Tonnio's attacks effectively, but was forced to retreat when Liina unleashed a flurrt of quick shots using a pair of handguns.

Tonnio gave him no chance however, and continued his assault.

"Got you now!"

"Kuh!"

Tonnio managed to open up his guard with a double uppercut, following with a kick to the side.

"Not yet!"

He stabbed his spear on the ground, using it as a pivot, and spun himself on his makeshift pole and returned Tonnio's kick, spinning drop-kick style.

"Gah!"

"Tonnio!"

Tonnio was sent flying, and Liina hurried after him to check.

Kasch boy reentered his battle stance, fighting four opponents at once taking a massive toll, evidenced by his heavy breathing.

But he doesn't seem to be done yet.

I ran forward and slashed at him repeatedly, parrying with his spear.

He managed to get a few strikes in return, which I had to block with my shield.

We exchanged a few more strikes, before he stabbed at me, forcing me to block and get pushed away.

He stabbed his spear on the ground to support himself, looking very gassed and breathing heavily.

"Not... bad, outsider. But I won't stop! You can't harm my family!"

Who even said anything about doing that?

But we have to stop soon. If he pushes himself further, he'll collapse.

"Look, kid, we're not here to fight. Just stand down."

"You're lying! You're with the others!"

What others?

Huh, maybe I should I have used a less threatening tone.

No time for that now, though.

He picked himself up and charged at me with his spear.

"[Zonde]!"

A bolt of electricity halted his assault, though.

He jumped back but he was met by Tonnio and Liina on both sides, twin weapons drawn.

Surprisingly, he was able to angle his spear in a way to just barely block both attacks, but the momentum sent him flying.

"Got you! [Razonde]!"

Emilia cast her spell, and a large lightning bolt fell down on the Kasch boy.

In a last ditch attempt, he spun his spear to block the Razonde.

A loud bang followed.

From the smoke, his spear was flung back, dropping on the ground a few meters away.

Chance...!

I rushed at him, hoping to quickly end the fight.

He looked startled and made an attempt to get away.

No, this needs to end!

"Sorry."

I muttered out quickly, and before he was able to look confused about it, I rammed my shield at him.

He was flung back yet again and landed roughly on the ground a good distance away.

He didn't get up.

I dismissed my weapons and breathed out a sigh of relief and tiredness. I heard the others' footsteps approaching me.

"Did you have to bash him? You're brutal, Kara."

"Ah, shush. He was pushing himself too hard. I needed to end it fast."

I answered my partner, who seemed to be back to her usual self, thankfully.

She shrugged and went to examine the knocked out Kasch boy.

"Ah, it's over. Good job!"

"Things always have to end the hard way, doesn't it?"

Tonnio complained lightly, holding the spot where the Kasch boy kicked him, Liina supporting him.

"He's a Kasch? But he looks just like us..."

Emilia inquired from over where said Kasch was knocked out.

Stop poking him with a stick, please.

"The Kasch aren't a different race, but they live by the old ways. Their culture's different from ours. Take that Mirage Blast earlier, for example. It was originally a Kasch ability but recent technology allows humans and newmans to emulate them."

"But due to researchers, our cultures cross paths often, causing some to even learn our language, like this kid here."

Emilia made an "Ahhh" face and nodded to show her understanding of the Rhimas' explanation.

"Zzz..."

Wait, is that boy snoring? Ah, really, some people...

Well, whatever, we have bigger problems right now.

"What do we do with the kid? I'm a little worried about the village..."

I voiced out my concerns, causing Tonnio and Liina o contemplate for a while.

"True. If his behavior's any guide, something's definitely wrong with the village."

"We better split up then. You two go on ahead. We'll take the boy back and patch him up."

"Wait, wait, wait, shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Emilia stood up and complained about Tonnio's decision.

Don't embarass us, partner.

"Our ship doesn't have medical facilities, you lazy girl."

"Ugh..."

"Your partner's right, you know. Don't worry, we'll catch up soon."

Tonnio and Liina worked together to lift up the sleeping Kasch boy, putting him on the stronger Tonnio's back.

"Good luck!"

"Uh... Must... Protect... mmm."

This kid's very determined.

Ignoring the sleeping boy's mumblings, Tonnio and Liina turned towards us and nodded, before setting out to backtrack.

"Ugh... there goes half our firepower. How encouraging..."

I chose to ignore Emilia's sarcastic complaints and started walking towards the other direction.

"Everytime I try to get out of combat detail, I get pulled back in! Everytime!"

"Ah, shut up. We're almost there so stop complaining!"

"Blegh!"

A child! My partner's a child...!

\--

 **IV**

"Hurry up! We're almost at the village!"

This girl was complaining earlier, why's she so enthusiastic now?!

I trudged along the uneven ground, making my way to where my parnter rushed to.

After Tonnio and Liina left to treat the Kasch kid, me and Emilia had to make our way to the vilage ourselves.

It was a pretty uneventful trip. There weren't any more markings and besises the couple hostiles here and there, the journey was relatively smooth.

Which kinda makes sense for this partner of mine to be in such a pleasant mood.

"Alright, alright, hang on."

"Come on, Kara, I wanna go back as soon as possible!"

Ah, so that's it.

Well, at least she wants to finish the mission.

Wait, that reminds me. Our mission isn't to check out the Kasch village. It's to find this Wurley guy.

"There's no guarantee Wurley Kokov's in the village, you know."

"Ah, don't worry, I'm sure he's there!"

What irresponsible thinking!

Whatever. If he's not there, we can at least check out what the Kasch boy was talking about.

We can't exactly ask the Kasch about Wurley if they're being attacked.

"Hey, stop standing around there an- Woah!"

Emilia wasn't even finished talking when the ground started to shake!

I managed to grab her arm to prevent her fall, and I struggled to keep my balance myself.

Thankfully, the shaking stopped after a while.

"W-what was that?! I don't think that was a natural earthquake!"

She's right. We'll have to be on guard.

We started walking again, and after reaching a good distance away from where we first were, the ground started shaking again.

Though, since we were a little ready for it, we managed to stay on our feet.

Then suddenly, a large, electricity-covered, rhino-like creature with a rock-like face burst out of the bushes.

And it looked just about ready to trample us!

"Run!"

"Hyaaaaah!"

We managed to get out of the way of its charge, but that was close! Too close!

The rhino, which I noticed to be a Bag Degga, continued its electrified charge and violently crashed into a big boulder, instantly pulverzing it.

Thinking that we could have suffered the same fate is enough to send shivers down my spine.

"K-Kara, what do we d-do?!"

"Hold on, I'm thinking!"

Though I said that, I'm at blank as to what to do.

Bag Deggas have extremely tough defense, especially on their front. And they can release electricity from their bodies.

When it charges, there's no way to outrun it. Thankfully, it can only charge in a roughly straight line.

Another thing of note is that their absolute defense doesn't extend to their backside.

The problem is HOW to hit the backside.

I can't send Emilia to distract it. There's no guarantee she'll be able to avoid a charge.

And if she gets hit, it's not gonna get pretty.

"It's coming again, let's go!"

I grabber her arm again and ran out of the way, the Bag Degga violently passing by our previous location and smashing some unlucky trees.

Now while it's distracted!

I quickly summoned my handgun and fired away at its exposed back.

And the bullets bounced off its tough skin harmlessly.

Great, even with the lesser defense, ranged attacks just aren't gonna cut it.

"S-should I try a Tech?"

"No, electric attacks aren't gonna do squat."

"Hey, I have other Techs, you know!"

Ah, that's right, If I remember correctly, she was able to use Rabarta and Resta.

We didn't get a chance, though, as the Bag Degga recovered from its crash and turned its attention back at us.

"Get ready to dodge!"

"R-right!"

After a few moments, the Bag Degga charged yet again, and at the last comfortable second, we leapt out of its trajectory.

I thought about attacking it but I decided against it. I just don't have any heavy enough weapons on me.

We're gonna have to use Techs.

"Emilia, Techs, please."

"O-okay!"

She readied her rod and raised it up in the air, familiar photon energy swirling at its tip.

Her rod glowed brightly after a short while, and she pointed it at the Bag Degga, which crashed into more boulders.

"[Rafoie]!"

Before it could turn around, a big blast of fire exploded on its back, the force pushing it away slightly.

"I did it!"

It caused quite a bit of damage, but it looks like it's gotten mad!

The Bag Degga roared loudly and began charging at us yet again.

We were able to dodge again, but this forested area is quickly becoming a clearing!

I set my handgun to power mode, and I held the trigger button in place, building up a charge shot.

Before the Bag Degga turned around, I released the trigger, and a bigger energy bullet fired out of the barrel.

It hit the rhino's back and exploded, weaker than the Rafoie but still quite poweful.

"[Rabarta]!"

A blast of icy wind hit its exposed back, and exploded in cold burst.

When the mist cleared, the Bag Degga was still in the same place, trashing around but still stationary.

Its legs were frozen.

Now's my chance...!

I summomed my saber and re-set it to kill, and I gripped it with both hands as I leapt at the frozen rhino.

I raised it up, and slashed. And I slashed again. And again.

With every slash, the Bag Degga roared out in pain.

But as I readied myself for another attack, the Bag Degga roared into the skies.

And that was when I realized I made a mistake.

Large streams of electricity burst out of its body and quickly moved in to assault me.

I quickly summoned my shield and blocked as best as I could.

I felt my feet lifted off the ground, and soon after, a sharp pain in my entire back.

Looks like I was able to avoid the worst of the shock but I got blasted away and crashed into a tree.

"Kara!"

I heard Emilia's worried call as she ran towards me.

No, don't...!

"Huh? A-ah, Waahh!"

Even with her before me, I could see the Bag Degga charging towards us. The blast swimmingly freeing it from its icy imprisonment.

"Emilia, get away, now!"

"No, don't be stupid, you'll die!"

"If you don't, you'll die too!"

"I don't care!"

You stupid...!

I tried to force myself to stand but my injury prevented me from doing so, and I don't think we had enough time for a Resta!

Damn it, I can't let us both die here! I have to push even harder!

Just when the Bag Degga turned us into roadkill, I suddenly felt _light_.

The next thing I know, I had Emilia in my arms a good distance away, and the giant creature had smashed the trees where we were earlier.

W-what happened...?

The pain was still there, but I could at least move now.

"K-Kara...! Your eyes...!"

"My eyes? What about them?"

"They're bright crimson! Just like Red's!"

I looked at my partner in confusion. My eyes have always been a red hue, but if Emilia felt the need to point it out, there must have been some kind of change.

Well, it's not like I can go ahead and check.

I briefly wondered if it has anything to do with us avoiding the fatal blow.

But, no time to think about it now! The Bag Degga looks like it's just about ready to charge us again!

After making sure she could stand, I put Emilia down and raised my guard.

The Bag Degga moved away and it revealed a deep cliff behind the wrecked trees.

"Wait, that's it...! Emilia, stay back, I have a plan."

"H-huh? You sure? Um, okay..."

I brought out my handgun again and unloaded a round on the Bag Degga's face, catching its attention, and then I ran.

I don't have any idea whatsoever happened earlier but I feel much lighter! It feels like I'm running twice as fast!

Before long, I was behind the Bag Degga, watching it turn slowly. Just behind me was the cliff.

You can probably guess what I'm planning now.

I raised my guard and stared into its eyes as the giant creature started charging at me.

Closer! Just a little closer!

Just when it was an arm's length from me, I jumped up, much higher than I ever had!

However, the Bag Degga slammed its forelegs down and _braked_.

It then roared out and began charging up an electric blast.

Crap, from where I am, I couldn't possibly dodge!

Just as the lightning bolt seemed about ready to fire off, I heard a swirl of fire and a familiar voice.

"[Rafoie]!"

Right before the Bag Degga released its attack, a fiery explosion engulfed it from behind.

A loud, electrical roar was the last I heard of it as it fell down into the abyss.

\--

 **V**

\--

As soon as I was sure that there were no more immediate threats in our vicinity, I plopped back down on the ground. My injuries and fatigue are still very much present.

"Kara! Are you alright!?"

Emilia came jogging over to me almost immediately.

Well, I suppose I should thank her. Things would have gotten really messy if she didn't cast that Rafoie.

"Hey."

"Don't "hey" me! Look at yourself! Ugh, whatever. [Resta]!"

The familiar soothing aura enveloped me as Emilia's Tech worked its magic and healed me. It won't mend all of my injuries, but it'll still help.

That encounter was too close. Much too close.

"Ah, that feels better... uh, thanks."

"Don't mention it. Healing you is practically my job now."

"No, I meant blasting the rhino earlier. That almost got me."

As soon as my words entered my partner's ears, a smile began forming on her face.

But as quick as it came, it morphed into an irritated frown.

"Oh, it would have more than get you, you know!? I wish you would stop pulling stunts like that!"

"Sorry about that. I miscalculated."

"And it's not just that, either! What was that about me leaving you on that thing's path!?"

What did this girl want me to do? I couldn't move, _at all_. It was really a miracle that I'm still breathing right now.

But she doesn't have that excuse.

"I was immobilized. Weren't you the one who ignored my orders and _didn't get out of the way?_ "

Emilia's face heated up in embarrassment, whether from embarrassment or something else entirely, I have no idea.

She stammered a bit, before she straightened herself out and resumed healing me, averting her gaze.

"... that was different."

"Right."

"I'm serious! Did you really think I was just gonna _leave_ you there?"

In all honesty, not really.

But there was no way she could have gotten me away in time. She's not strong enough to carry me, and Resta wouldn't have had enough time.

By logic, it's better she survive and me, hopefully just crippled for life.

But I guess, I didn't think about her feelings. Despite the job description, she's not a mercenary at all. Just a sheltered, innocent girl, unwilling to lose one of her few friends.

Thinking about that, guilt flowed within my chest. That was a really insensitive move I did, but there really was no choice.

"... Sorry."

Seeing me apologize and mean it, Emilia flashed a gentle smile at me.

"Just don't do it again, okay? You're my partner and friend, Kara."

...friends, huh?

Well, I guess we are. Despite her annoying tendencies, that doesn't seem bad at all.

"And besides! If you died, there won't be any one to do half my work for me anymore!"

"You little... Ah, nevermind."

"Hee-hee! Well, you're all set now! Come on!"

With me sufficiently healed enough to walk, she hurried off towards the supposed direction of the Kasch village.

Leave the injured friend, why don't you, you troublesome girl?

 **ooo000ooo**

After a while, I managed to catch up to Emilia. Fortunately, there weren't any more hostiles along the way.

Upon spotting me, she gave off a cross look and put her hands on her hips.

"About time!"

"Well, excuse me... Not like I was hurt or anything..."

"Wait, nevermind that, doesn't the air seem a little... thick?"

Ignoring my partner ignoring my complaint, I moved forward.

She was right, breathing was becoming a little harder, and the air was a shade of gray.

The realization hit me like a truck instantly after, Emilia seemingly noticing too.

"It's smoke! The village!"

I ran ahead to the source of the smoke, and after a short while, we found out what it was.

Fire.

The entire village was _burning_.

"Wha- Who did this...? And _why_?"

Emilia looked more than a little shocked upon seeing the inferno before us.

Our intuition was correct. The village was in danger. But we were too late.

Thankfully, there weren't any visible Kasch amongst the burning wreckage.

"I have what I am looking for. I have no more need for you. Leave."

Before the sentence was over, I was already dragging the stunned Emilia into a big enough boulder to hide behind.

Who was that? It was a deep, masculine voice, surrounded by a lot of footsteps.

I took a quick peek, and I spotted a vaguely familiar tall, silver pineapple leave shaped-haired man, fully dressed in black and holding a strange, red tablet.

The group hasn't noticed us, it seems, as they began to disperse.

Wait, there was someone there who looked much more familiar!

"That's Wurley Kokov!"

I silently exclaimed, enough for my partner to hear me, but not enough to alert the sinister group.

I received no response, however, and upon turning to where she was supposed to be, I found out why.

"Hey! You're the one who started this fire, aren't you?!"

Immediately after I noticed her absence, a loud accusation accompanied the sound of the flames torching the Kasch village.

Shockingly, I'm not even surprised. I just let out a sigh and began moving towards my problematic partner.

"And if I was?"

Well, that emo guy certainly has no plans on defending himself.

That simple display of arrogance staggered Emilia a bit.

"Uh..."

"What are you gonna do about it? Defy me with your weak, mortal flesh?"

"Um...?"

Okay, weird. Even the blonde weirdo I call my partner got weirded out. What the heck was that supposed to mean?

If he noticed that I was now beside my partner, then either he didn't care or he's just ticked at our confused stares.

I'd bet 100 meseta it's the latter.

"Tsk. Whatever. You are witnesses. Prepare to be eliminated."

Woah, woah, woah, this is turning into dangerous territory, real fast!

"Keep sharp!"

I shouted out at Emilia, who nodded and summoned her rod. I did the same with my, saber and shield.

Against an unknown opponent, it's best to play defensive, first!

"Futile."

Before we were able to process what pinehat said, he was already in front of us, apparently having leapt the entire distance.

"Oh, shi-!"

I raised my shield up as fast as I could, and I wad rewarded by the world around me spontaneously speeding up.

One second later, I realized I was sent flying by an insanely powerful kick.

"Kara!"

Rolling around across the ground like a thrown doll was certainly not what I ordered today!

I stopped myself, with great difficulty, and looked up to find out I was thrown away an absurd distance away.

Just who the hell is this guy?

I summoned my handgun next, unleashing a furious round on the man before he could target Emilia.

The bullets hit their mark, but I might have well been shooting at a wall!

"Nuisance. Begone."

And he leapt at me again at terrifying speeds.

At that point, I couldn't process anything at all as soon as our assailant rocketed towards me.

"Kara, get out of there!"

Emilia's frantic warning was the last thing I heard before everything faded to black, yet again.


	6. V1 Ch5: Kettei no Me

**Last chapter for volume 1! Stay tuned for the epilogue! Leave a review! :)**

\--

Little Wing It

Volume 1

The Holy Light's Blessings On This Wonderful System!

 **Chapter 5**

 **Kettei no Me**

\--

 **I**

\--

When I came to, my entire body was screeching in pain. I still haven't fully recovered from the successive fights against the Kasch boy and the Bag Degga.

And then this pretty boy in black comes along and hands my ass to me quite handily.

I wearily opened my eyes to see the village still burning, and no sign of the emo creeper and his little boy band.

I guess they just up and left after knocking me out...

Oh, shit, _Emilia_!

I frantically rose from the ground, snapping my head in random directions, ignoring the sharp pain that came along with my actions.

And out of the corner of my eye, I saw her lying unconscious on the ground a few meters away.

I ran over to her, silently cursing that I let this happen.

When I reached her still figure, I quickly began checking if she was okay.

Thankfully, her pulse seems intact and she's breathing normally. Strange enough, she didn't seem to have gotten any injuries at all from the man in black.

What, did she just faint after I passed out?

Well, whatever. Thank the heavens she's alright.

"Hey, what the heck happened here?!"

A familiar voice, along with the hasty footsteps of two people running, called out to us.

I turned my head back to see Tonnio and Liina rushing over to us, confusion and concern etched on their faces.

They stopped on a dime and stared in complete shock, however, upon seeing the state of the Kasch Village.

Or what's left of it, anyway.

"This is awful... Who did this?"

"They burned a cultural heritage site! Who the hell do they think they are?!"

Seeing as they didn't seem to have any plans on continuing their approach, I gently picked my partner up and put her on my back.

The extra weight almost made me fall over, still a bit out of it, but I balanced myself and made my way over to them.

"A man in black did this, along with a few people. He decimated us easily and left us here."

"A man in black? And he had company? Tonnio..."

"So that's why there were a lot of ships that suddenly flew away! I can't believe we just let them waltz off!"

"We can't do anything about it now... anyway, are you two alright? You look terrible, especially you, Kara!"

Liina asked me, sounding quite worried. I can't blame her, my injuries are quite bad. At this point, I'm just toughing it out.

I didn't seem to have done a good job of hiding it.

"I'm fine... Emilia's unconscious but she doesn't seem to have any severe injuries."

She took a quick glance at the knocked out girl on my back and nodded, seemingly taking my word about Emilia's condition.

She looked like she was about to question me further on MY condition, however.

Thankfully, we were interrupted by a loud beeping sound, apparently emanating from Emilia's wrist.

I pressed the answer button, and a hologram of Kraz popped up from the interface, looking quite miffed.

"Hey! Wurley's ship is on the move! Get your asses over there!"

"Quit shouting! We can hear you just fine!"

It wasn't me.

Kraz seemed a little surprised at the little woman that reprimanded him.

"... and who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a mercenary who happens to be working with these two. Emilia's unconscious, in fact, she's hurt so try to keep it down."

"Bah! Just like her to get hurt during a mission!"

"Should I give chase, boss?"

Kraz turned his attention to me with an annoyed expression on his face. He looked like he was about to say something rude, but stopped himself upon seeing my banged up state.

He spent a few seconds thinking before sighing slumping his shoulders down.

"... Forget about it. I'll go get him. Fix yourself up and return to Little Wing."

And he cut the transmission without waiting for my response.

I let out a sigh of resignation. Things aren't looking good for my pay...

"Hey. What now?"

Tonnio, seemingly done letting off steam, came on over to us a couple of seconds after Kraz's transmission.

"We'll be returning to Clad 6. What about the Kasch kid?"

"Back on our ship, snoring like a big baby."

"Most of his minor injuries are healed but he doesn't seem to have any plans to wake up soon."

That's right, after all this crazy business, I forgot about the kid until now.

We can't exactly just dump him here. After all, we are the cause of his injuries, even if he was the one who attacked first.

I guess we'll have to take him along with us. I should have told Kraz about it earlier.

"We'll take him back to Little Wing with us. He can get treated further there."

"Alright. We'll carry him with us."

"N-no, it's alright, we can handle it."

Liina raised an eyebrow at me, gesturing to the unconscious Emilia on my back.

Is this how being scolded feels like?

"We can maintain the first aid using our ship's equipment. Just worry about your partner for now."

"O-okay."

"Good."

She smiled in satisfaction, taking the lead back to the parking area. Tonnio, however, flashed me an understanding grin.

It's a good thing Emilia was asleep, or I never would have heard the end of it.

"Don't worry. She gets like that, but she only means well."

"I see. Anyway, do you know how to get to Clad 6?"

"It's the resort colony, right? I'm sure Liina and I can find our way. Come on."

I nodded at him as he started walking towards the direction Liina was currently on.

I began to made my way over as well but I was forced to stop when Emilia's hold on me tightened.

"Kara... don't die... you promised..."

For a while, I thought she had awakened. But when I took a quick glance over to my shoulder where her head was situated, it turns out she was still unconscious.

However, her face was contorted into a pained expression, as if tears could burst out at any time, with her grip strengthening, but not enough to choke me.

It's just as if I'll suddenly disappear if she lets me free even just a bit.

"Y-you promised..."

Ah, really, what am I gonna do with this girl...

I got pulled into this her crazy world reluctantly, but it looks like I'm here to stay.

She's annoying and problematic... but I guess the idea of being her friend doesn't feel as bad as I first thought it would be.

"Shhh.. I'm here, I'm here. It's alright."

"Mmm... good..."

With that, her hold relaxed and her face tensed down and returned to peaceful slumber, her incoherent grumbles lowly dying down into quiet, rhythmic breathing.

I let out a sigh, but without the exasperation that usually accompanies a sigh caused by one Emilia Percival.

Really, what a troublesome partner.

\--

 **II**

\--

Right after I laid Emilia's unconscious form on one of the ship's mini-beds, I slumped down heavily on my seat, exhaling the largest of breaths.

Everything hurts like hell and I'm dead tired.

The ship was on auto-pilot back to Clad 6 by now, so I have time to get some rest in before mission report.

That's not gonna end well, at all.

First off, we injured one of the locals, even though said local was the aggressor. Those medical expenses are gonna be paid for by the company, though I'm not sure if a portion of our pay will be used for it.

Next, we got completely _embarassed_ by some guy in black, who also burned the Kasch village while we were preoccupied.

And lastly, we didn't even complete our mission in the first place. We managed to locate Wurley Kokov, but it was our boss, Kraz who actually _collected_ the money.

Another sigh. What a complete disaster. He may be used to Emilia screwing things up, but things aren't looking great for a newcomer like me...

Well, I can't do anything about it now.

"Nn..."

I glanced back over to my partner, still dozing off. Doesn't seem like she's planning on waking up soon.

Come to think of it, I still don't know what happened after I passed out.

The guy in black was gone, and so was his little entourage, but I woke up to find my partner knocked out on the floor.

Furthermore, she didn't have any traces of injury anywhere, aside from the minor bruises and cuts she got earlier.

"Did she simply just faint...? 'Tis a mystery..."

"I am able to answer your inquiries."

" _Gyah_!"

I was abruptly brought out of my musings by the sudden appearance of the Ancient, Mika.

With all the craziness that happened, it'd already slipped my mind that someone from an ancient civilization was sharing a body with my troublesome partner.

In fact, this is is the first time Mika has directly interacted with me since that time she revealed herself back on my first day in Little Wing.

If she felt the need to appear before me again, it must be important.

"I apologize for startling you."

"N-no, it's alright... You were saying?"

"I am able to inform you of what happened to my host."

Oh, that's right. I was wondering what happened to Emilia.

Thinking about it, it kinda makes sense that Mika would know what happened.

I nodded at her to show that I was listening.

"After you were knocked out-"

" _Thanks_."

"... Emilia immediately attempted to rush to your side. Of course, the man in black did not let her."

Mika paused momentarily because of my interruption, but quickly resumed her explanation. Once she was finished, I felt the familiar annoyance Emilia frequently gives me.

So, she went stupid again. Disregarding her own safety because of me.

Honestly? I really feel like it's my fault.

Mika took my silence as confirmation to continue.

"The man in black attempted to cast a spell, but the energy of it was something I faintly recognize. Thus, I felt the need to interfere."

A spell? So he didn't attempt to knock her out the same way he did to me? Huh... I guess evil... or emo, has standards too.

In all seriousness though, I'm really glad that he did. I'm not sure if Emilia could have taken an attack from him.

His power was insanely absurd.

Although any further musings of mine was cut short by Mika's next statements.

"I have reason to believe that man is an Ancient as well."

"... come again?"

"I suspect the man in black is an out-of-time Ancient, same as myself."

Ah, great. There's two of them now. Chances are, that guy's of the take-over-the-world variety. I guess that explains the ridiculous power and the weird behavior.

Although why a pretty boy Ancient would spend time forming boy bands and burning native tribes is beyond me.

"Emilia lost consciousness from the shock of seeing you knocked out and the spell the man in black used. I took the chance to take over and chase him off."

So that explains why she's practically uninjured despite being out like a light. It also tells me that I have a lot be thankful for to Mika.

"Thanks... for protecting her, I mean. Clearly, I did a shit job of it."

Something flashed in Mika's face upon hearing my words. I couldn't quite put my finger on it... but if I were to guess...

It's something... motherly...?

"Do not sell yourself short, young one. You were doing a splendid job. That man in black was just something you were not prepared for."

"I... I guess... But still, I gotta be stronger."

Mika nodded at me after she heard my response, looking quite proud I didn't begin wallowing in self-pity.

"Anyway, you said that dude was an Ancient?"

"Indeed. Do you recall the device he was holding?"

Come to think of it, he really did have something in his hands back then. We just didn't have the opportunity to examine or ask about it.

What, with him attacking us out of the blue and all...

But from what my memory can tell me, it was a red tablet-like device of some sorts. Partially see-through with lots of codes on its surface.

The benevolent Ancient before me must have seen the mild confusion on my face, because she started explaining what the device was before I could ask.

"It was a Codex. One of three, in fact. They are the keys to opening Maghara."

"Maga what now?"

"... Do you remember Project Renaissance?"

... Oh hell.

Project Renaissance. Some ancient civilization planning to hijack our bodies and our system.

So the guy was already one thirds of the way into basically, the _apocalypse_. Just a different version from the traditional one.

"Do not fret yet. The other two are significantly harder to obtain. We have much more time than you think."

"Well, that's nice to hear..."

I guess I'm really going to get roped into doing this after all...

Imagine this, Kara Draken, savior of the Gurhal System.

Sounds absolutely stupid. In all likelihood, we're doomed.

" ** _10 minutes to destination_**."

The familiar electronic voice sounded throughout the silent ship, indicating that we're a few moments away from Clad 6.

Mika looked a bit down at that, but quickly composed herself.

"I'm afraid we'll have to continue another time. There is much to discuss, child."

And then in a blinding, golden flash of light, she was gone. Back inside the depths of the still sleeping Emilia.

I slumped down harder on my seat. Things were starting to become convoluted real fast.

I sigh. It looks like all I've been doing for the past few days was sigh...

Why me? All I wanted was a simple life where I can provide for myself sufficiently. How did ancient civilizations and evil plans get mixed up with a lone wolf mercenary?

Hell if I know.

\--

 **III**

\--

"Good, you're back."

Kraz said through the comm link, looking gruff as usual.

Turns out we got here earlier than him, so I took the time to bring Emilia to the medics. Tonnio and Liina also arrived as soon as we did and brought the Kasch boy there too.

Without anything to do, I returned to our ship to pass the time away until Kraz contacted me as he did.

"Hey, boss."

"Hn. You've got some splainin' to do. After we take care of your pain-in-the-ass partner. Ya on it, Chelsea?"

He called out to his side, which I assume is where our resident receptionist is.

Chelsea didn't bother coming into view but at least made sure to speak loud enough for me to hear.

"Mais oui. But there are two, non?"

"Two problems for the price o' one..."

"Err, sorry..."

Well, what else can I say?

Thankfully, he didn't push the issue and just shook his head.

"Can't do nothin' 'bout it now. Get to it, Chelsea."

With that, he turned his full attention back to me.

"As for you, meet me in the cafe. I'll fill you in when we get there."

And with that, the transmission was abruptly cut off.

Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be... Of course, I've still yet to find out what he wants to tell me.

Better not make him wait, then.

As soon as I exited our ship, I found myself immediately face to face with a frantic looking Vasque.

"Is it true?! Someone burned down the Kasch village?!"

I backed up quickly after that. I don't know why that got him so riled up but I'm kinda in a hurry.

Vasque looked like he noticed it from the look on my face and tried calming himself down.

Thank god.

"Sorry about that..."

"I-it's fine."

"It's just that, it was a cultural protection zone!"

Hey, I thought he knew I was in a hurry?

I was going to excuse myself but it doesn't seem like he was able to get the hint.

"C-calm down..."

"Err, apologies. I just don't... CAN'T understand how anyone could do something so pointlessly _stupid_!"

"Me either but..."

"There's a lot we could learn from the Kasch. Their connection to nature, and the things they do with photons... remarkable stuff."

I'm sure it is but let me speak, damn it! Kinda in a hurry here!

"And they _went_ and _burned_ _down_ the central repository of all that tribal knowledge! What part of _protection_ didn't they get?!"

At this point, all I could do was stare at him wordlessly as he panted from because of his outburst.

Well, this is awkward. Vasque seemed to know this too.

"Sorry, didn't mean to yell. I spent some time back in the day studying the Kasch. Guess I took it personally."

"Damn right you did."

This elicited a small chuckle from him. Looks like he's done with his little rant, thankfully.

"By the way..."

Oh no.

"Heard someone had a Kasch boy under their care. That your crew?"

"Well, yeah. The med team's currently treating his injuries."

I made the wise decision of not letting it be known to him that we were the cause of the Kasch kid's injuries.

With that passionate rant earlier, I don't know how he would have reacted. I certainly wasn't going to find out.

"I see... Well, when he comes to, make sure to bring him to me!"

"Sure, no problem."

"Thanks. Anyway, I saw Kraz heading down to the cafe. Don't see him out and about much..."

"Yeah, I was actually called down there by him."

"Oh? Well, by the look on his face, looks like he forgot to bring his sense of humor along. Tread carefully."

Well, that's one way to put it, I suppose...

After a quick thanks and farewell, I made my way to the cafe, and what welcomed my sight was the boss himself, chucking alcohol down his throat.

It took a while before he noticed me.

"Well, ya sure took yer damn time! Hope ya don't mind, I started without you."

He motioned for me to sit down across him, and so I did.

Well, this is awkward. At this point, it's like a broken record now.

"... Want a shot?"

"N-no thanks. I don't drink much."

"Hmph. Suit yerself."

Damn it, I liked my conversation with Vasque better.

Kraz didn't seem to mind, though, downing beer at an alarming rate.

"... should you really be drinking on the clock?"

"Listen, you don't tell me how much to drink while I'm workin' and I don't throw ya outta an airlock. Deal?"

"... deal."

He only smirked at me as a response.

Really...

"Aah, that hit the spot."

And he slammed the empty bottle on the table. It's a wonder the damned thing didn't break.

Then finally, he turned his attention back to me. Well, he's had his revenge, I guess.

"Anywhow, I caught up with Wurley. In addition to the money he owed me, he had quite a story to tell. I'll spare you the details and jump ta the end."

He started to look serious after that.

"Wurley doesn't remember going to Crodog."

W-what?

But he was rig-

Oh whatever, it's probably just the Ancients' bullshit again. That is, if I were to take Mika's word that the man in black was one.

Kraz didn't mind my pondering and continued his debriefing.

"One day, he's minding his own business and the next thing he knows, he's standing in the middle of a burning village. I've known him a long time and he ain't the kind of guy that makes up shit like that."

Well, that's certainly something. Perhaps it's why the black-clad guy's entourage looked like zombies or something.

Anyway, Kraz doesn't seem that bothered by it, grabbing another bottle and popping the lid.

"Well, all I care about is getting my money back, which I did. You did a good job, considering what I gave you to work with. Keep it up."

At the very least, it's nice to be praised.

And with that, he left the cafe, telling the bartender to put it on his tab.

Said bartender could only sigh as she wrote something down.

Well, I understand the feeling...

 **IV**

"Ah! Kara! Over here, please!

The Boobie La- _Chelsea_ called out to me from her counter.

I was wandering around the sector, as without my partner, there's not much to do.

I tried sleeping, but I just couldn't, for the life of me.

Well, whatever. I made my way over to our receptionist.

"The boy who Emilia mumbles about in her sleep has come! There is something I wished to tell you, yes?"

Ugh, that girl. Causing troubke for me even while asleep.

Chelsea giggled at my reaction, which was a facepalm, before getting on with what she wanted to tell me.

"You see, since you have come, Emilia is smiling _much_ more than before. I wished to thank you, merci!"

"Huh? Wasn't she like that before? She's basically a kid..."

Chelsea tilted her head my answer. I felt like doing the same.

What's my arrival have to do with Emilia's smile count?

"Quoi? You think she was always so cheery? Excitable, perhaps, but not so smiley, _ever_. It is true!"

"I don't follow...?"

"When she first came to the pub where I used to work... ooh la la! Hopeless!"

I'm... not sure I know what to make of that.

Emilia's not hopeless _now_ but...

It's close.

"Just when I thought we might make a worker of her, the pub goes under. Ploop! Then she went with Monsieur Boss. She never said as much, but I think it was very hard for her, no?"

"I'd figure. I know how Kraz can be... geez."

"Yes! The two of them, they did not get along! Like a... a smelly dog and a little kitty!"

I... what?

It's fitting, in a sense, I guess.

I'm having too much fun of how Chelsea tells things.

If I had a heart, I'd probably have a wide smile by now.

Well, I do, but it's as black as my favorite type of coffee.

... creamy with a lot of sugar.

"But how the little kitty has grown since you came! Much nicer now, I assure you. Many more smiles, oui."

I'm still not sure I understand how I'm responsible for any of that, if it were true. I'm not exactly an expert on the ways of the E-M-I-L-I-A.

Well, let's just agree to disagree.

"You take care of her for us, s'il vous plait! But do not make her cry, or _we_ will take care of _you_!"

"...! Y-yes ma'am!"

She giggled in response.

W-what was that?!

I'm not sure, but there was, for a split second, a terrifying amount of killing intent in the air!

I looked back to Chelsea and she looked far from threatening.

... I better be careful around how I act around her...

"Oh! There goes your little kitty now!"

I glanced behind me, and indeed, there she was, wandering around lazily like nothing happened.

Some people...

"Hey, Emilia."

"Hm? Oh, hi."

What an incredibly unenthusiastic response. It's almost lackluster, now.

I raised an eyebrow at her and she looked at me like I grew wings or something.

I couldn't resist rolling my eyes.

"Pfft? What are you doing?"

Which she found funny, for some reason. Well, I'm glad she's fine, at least.

"Oh yeah, I heard boss called you down for a talk. Was he steaming or what?"

"Huh? Not more than usual, no. Why would he be mad?"

"Hm? No reason. Just that when he calls me in, it's usually not for a pat on the back"

I should probably not tell her that Kraz called me in for a job well done.

I don't know, it's just a feeling.

"Listen, there's something I want to talk to you about. Something private. Meet me on the ship, 'kay?"

And there she goes, off on her merry way.

"Ooh la la! A private talk! What could it entail, I wonder?"

"... what."

Ah, whatever, might as well get it over with.

I made my way over to the transporter, trying my best not to notice Chelsea's ear-reaching smile.

Basically, heading to the ship to escape the shipper.

I found my partner sitting at the pilot's seat of our ship, spinning said seat towards my direction upon noticing my arrival.

"I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the Kasch Village."

She looked quite pleased with herself after that.

Setting that aside, I wonder what she wanted to speak about. I got knocked out pretty fast upon getting there, after all.

Something before that?

"Is it about my eyes?"

"Ye- wait, what? No... Huh? Come to think of it, didn't your eyes go weird back there?"

"What weird? How should I know? It's not like I had a mirror."

"Well, they started glowing bright red, and then you suddenly jumped high! I almost though we were flying!"

"I remember that part... Are they still glowing now?"

"No, they're back to normal. Huh, that was weird."

Weird, indeed. I'm not think too much about it, though. It saved our hides, so I'll just be grateful.

Emilia had a lost look on her face before suddenly peking up, realizing something.

"Hey, that's not what I wanted to talk about! Stop distracting me!"

She distracted herself pretty easily, if I may. Stop blaming me.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

Emilia calmed herself right after that and brought her head down, all that joking mood from earlier gone in an instant.

... what is this?

"... I fought the man in black, didn't I?"

Oh.

Oh crap. Looks like Mika won't be able to hide herself forever.

So, what now?

Do I just tell her?

" _Sigh_... Well, yeah, I guess you did."

In a way, I wasn't lying, was I?

She laughed bitterly at this.

"I... felt my body _move_ , but it wasnt like I was in control. It felt like a dream... But if the man in black was _there_ , and and the attack on the village really _happened_... then it must all be real, right?"

"Yes, all too real."

Before we had a chance to be shocked at the sudden third voice, the ship was bathed in a golden light, blinding us momentarily.

And when I opened my eyes once more, right beside Emilia was the Ancient, Mika.

\--

 **V**

"At last, you are ready to acknowledge my presence."

Well, Mika certainly loves grand entrances, doesn't she?

Since this isn't my first meeting with her, I was able to keep my cool. It still felt trippy as hell, though.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same about my partner.

"W-who are you?! Were you... i- _inside_ of me?!"

"Hey, calm down, Emilia!"

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! A person came out from me and you tell me to calm down?! Why aren't you freaking out about this?!"

Geez, stop screeching!

"Calm down first, then we'll explain!"

"We?! You KNEW?!"

This is all happening in front of a completely bewildered Mika, mind you.

If I was the Ancient ancestor, I'd be disappointed too, honestly.

"Okay, okay... I'm calm, I'm calm. You were saying?"

Well, I thought she'd never. Putting that aside, I gestured to Mika to continue, and she nodded at me.

Not before a second of delay due to shock.

"My name is Mika. I am one of the people you call the Ancients, and I live within you."

Right after that, Emilia started losing her balance, and started clutching her head.

I hurried over to keep her from falling down.

"W-what is this...?! It's like a rushing inside my head!"

Mika, collected as ever, made a gesture as to calm us, specifically me.

"I am sharing my memories with Emilia. It is a far better way of explaining things."

"... couldn't you have done that with me before?"

"My apologies, but I could not. You are not my host."

"... right."

As if on cue, Emilia jolted forward, the memory-sharing seemingly over.

She was noticeably paler than a few minutes ago. Mika noticed this too.

"No, this can't be happening...!"

"I understand your doubts, but I assure you, this is all very real."

"If his plan works, he's going to kill us. He's going to kill us all!"

Well, that's Project Renaissance in a nutshell. In all honesty, I might have had the exact same reaction.

So I can't say I blame Emilia for losing her cool.

"If you consider the body a vessel, and the mind a life, then yes, that life will be snuffed out."

She went silent after that, quietly and slowly slumping down to the ground.

This is getting worrisome.

"... Emilia? You okay?"

"... It's true... that means... the relic site... it's all real..."

Her face morphed into a horrified expression as she seemed to slowly realize something.

Emilia's lips were quivering, tears threatening to fall down as she started looking at me.

"Y-you took my place... You died instead of me... BECAUSE of me...!"

"Emilia, I..."

I... what?

What exactly do I say in this situation?

Damn it, why did things get so complicated? It was much more simpler hunting dragons!

"Forgive me for forcing all this on you. I will go now. You need time to take it in. When you're ready, call me and I will come."

And just as suddenly as she appeared, Mika the Ancient was gone, like a light fading out after one final burst.

Which left me and my partner alone, words seemingly too hard to come by.

After a while, Emilia picked herself up and got back on her feet, but her mood didn't improve whatsoever.

Which is understandable.

"... It was real. All of it."

"Yeah."

"You died protecting me."

"... yeah."

"If... if I had been more careful, more ready... You wouldn't have needed to sacrifice yourself."

"You tried to tell me but did I listen? I haven't thought about anything, anyone but myself."

"I'm right here, aren't I? Don't worry about it."

And then I immediately felt the urge to punch myself.

"How can I not worry about it?! Someone died because of me! YOU died because of _me_! How can I _live_ with that?!"

I'm no empath, but I can practically FEEL the self-loathing. She's killing herself over this, and can I blame her?

I've said it before, she's no mercenary. She's just a sheltered little kid.

"... I've always said I don't like fighting. That I'm not right for this job... But that doesn't matter anymore."

Emilia straightened herself out and looked at me with determined eyes.

Kettei no Me, in the old Neudaizian language.

"I want to learn how to fight, and I want you to teach me."

"Yeah, I understand if you wanna qui- wait, wha?!"

Did I hear that right?!

She wants ME to teach HER how to FIGHT?! You gotta be joking!

Emilia didn't seem to be fazed by my outburst however, and maintained the seriousness she had.

"I know that's asking a lot but it's important to me."

"Wait, wait, wait, no need to go to any trouble on my account, you know? Why don't you think this over first? There's a lot you had to tak-"

"No, I want to do this! I'm still scared of fighting, and I doubt I'll ever like it. But I won't let you down!"

I was going to refuse her.

There is no way I was gonna take on such a responsibility.

I looked at her extremely determined expression, and I didn't think there was anything I could say that would dissuade her from trying to play hero.

It goes without saying that life as a mercenary was dangerous. Trying to stop an Ancient madman from hijacking the entire system? Even more so.

Of course I'd refuse to train her.

But one look at her pleading but intense stare, desperately wishing to not be a hindrance to me or anyone else...

I thought I saw a little of myself in those determined eyes.

 **ooo000ooo**

And that was the day one Emilia Percival became my student, along with being my partner.

My name is Kara Draken.

And this is the story of how me, a snarky teenage beastman, along with a lazy prodigy girl, a naive tribesboy, and a redhead with growth issues...

Well, one thing led to another and we ended up saving the entire Gurhal System.


	7. Volume 1 Epilogue

**Heya! Thanks for reading up till now! This is the epilogue for Volume 1! Whew, there were lots of breaks and absences in between chapters, huh? Damn school...**

 **Not blaming games, at all!**

 **So, if I remain free, I'll probably be back shortly for Volume 2's prologue! Leave your thoughts on this with a review, please!**

\--

Little Wing It

Volume 1

The Holy Light's Blessings On This Wonderful System!

 **Epilogue**

The office's doors slid open with a soft whoosh, baring free to the center of the sector the busy office of Little Wing.

There weren't much people inside, as expected of a security contractor/mercenary outfit. Most of its members were either out on jobs or doing whatever it is mercenaries do on their free time.

The ones that are inside however, had varying reactions to the doors opening. Some gave a short glance, some did not mind.

There were some however, that had not noticed at all.

"Whaddaya mean the Kasch boy's _still_ sleepin'?"

" _Exactly_ as it sounds, Monsieur Boss! There's the occasional moaning and grunting, but still very much off into the land of dreams, yes?"

Monsieur Boss, as he was called by the receptionist, gave a gruff grunt as he returned his attention back to his monitor.

" _Unbelievable_. Emilia brought home trouble, as always."

"Ah, but the girl is doing much better these days, no? Kara is doing a splendid job of the whipping her into the shape!"

"Well, yer not wrong..."

Seeing as they were not going to be noticed any time soon, the reason the doors opened, a short, black-clad girl, started walking towards 'Monsieur Boss'.

Her boots tapped quietly against the cold office floor as she moved, her bright crimson eyes scanning the room.

With every turn of her head, her fiery red hair swayed along with the motion.

After a few moments, the boss noticed her. Finally, she thought.

"Hm? What's a kid doin' here?"

The girl's eyes twitched just a bit, but she managed to control herself.

"I-I'm not a kid. I'm here to sign up."

The boss's eyebrows rose at this. Of course, not one soul was able to see this, due to the unruly mop of hair that completely covered his eyes.

"Really now?"

"Yes, really. Do I need to show you my qualifications, booze man?"

The girl asked, hands on her waist. She was just a tad bit annoyed.

The boss just shrugged at this.

"Meh, we don't do that here."

The redhead was about to respond, but her words died down when the receptionist called out.

"Monsieur Boss, she is the one who sent the application request a few days ago."

"Huh, really? _You're_ the Crimson Hunter?"

This time, it was the girl's turn to shrug.

"In the flesh."

The boss didn't answer, instead, looking over the basic info the girl gave along with the application request.

"Well, I'll be darned! Three years into the business and ya already got some nifty accomplishments. What made you want to join us? Usually, it's us huntin' fer recruits."

"Ehhh, I heard how you guys work. I liked it, so here I am."

The boss nodded along, skimming over the file.

"Uh-huh. Lessee... Crimson Hunter... Human, Seventeen Years, Neudaizian, Proficient in Double Sabers... Huh? No last name?"

"That's private."

The boss didn't seem to particularly care or mind however, finishing up his scan, and turning his attention back to the girl.

She straightened out just a bit.

"Alright. Here in Little Wing, we don't give a damn about who you were or what ya did before. You'll only go as far as you can take yourself."

The girl nodded in response to every point the boss explained.

Not the most enthusiastic of nods, but enough to show that she was listening, at the very least.

"We aren't the type to particularly look over yer shoulder while you work, so long as ya do what yer told, when yer told."

As soon as he finished talking, the boss stood up, absolutely dwarfing the girl in front of him.

This didn't intimidate her, not in any way at all. He gave a smirk of approval to this.

"Well, that's about it! I'll be looking forward to workin' with ya!"

The girl was able to notice the receptionist perk up upon hearing the boss's announcement. She turned her attention towards them with a big grin.

"Ooh! Felicitations! A new member!"

The girl's eyes twitched, stronger than before, as she watched a certain bounce as the receptionist stood up.

Ever so perceptive in certain matters, the boss gave a little smirk.

"Heh. Crimson Hunter Red, welcome to Little Wing!"


	8. Volume 2 Prologue

**Heyo! I'm around 20% finished with the next proper chapter so here's a preview while schoolwork and games are keeping me busy!**

 **Hope you enjoy this (very short) Prologue of Volume 2! Leave a review, please!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Volume 2 Cover Image:

drive@google@com/file/d/1A2iCH6vgK-l7kx7jEqWLlL2q05myCgXr/view?usp=drivesdk

(Replace the @'s with dots. Don't worry, I remembered the permissions stuff this time!)

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 2

Photon Art Online

 **Prologue**

\--

" _You_...!"

My partner's voice echoed around the circular central area of Little Wing Sector.

I almost felt the need to cover my ears if not for the fact that I was already used to such sudden screeches.

"Hm? Hey, it's you guys."

"Don't you "hey" me! You've got some nerve!"

Emilia marched towards the person she was shouting at.

Said person, however, just watched with a slightly amused expression on her face.

I could feel yet another sigh threatening to escape my mouth. I don't even have the energy to feel exasperated anymore.

It's been a long day.

"... Can I help you?"

"Yes, you can! You can start by _not_ interfering in our work, thank you very much!"

Emilia said with an accusing finger pointed towards the person she was arguing with.

"Interfere? My, I'm hurt! I truly am! I helped you out and this is the thanks I get?"

Please, please, please, stop provoking her. My partner's already bad as she is when her shouting mood strikes.

Of course, I'm not that lucky.

This person is a terrific troll, after all.

"Help us OUT?! You stole our target!"

"It'll still complete your mission. What're you winning about?"

"WHINING?! Why, I-!"

"Emilia, please, that's enough."

I was able to see, for a split second, my partner looking absolutely betrayed at my words.

And then she turned her outburst at me.

"She stole our kill! Twice, now! Who _does_ that?!"

"Twice? Are you counting the De Ragan? The one that almost wiped us out, no thanks to your great big head?"

"Pfft!"

"...! _You_ -"

I grabbed Emilia quickly to prevent her impending charge.

It didn't stop her mouth, unfortunately.

"Just you wait, you kill-stealing jerk! When I break free from my traitorous partner, I'll let you have it!"

"Sure. Well, that's if you can... _bolthead_.

I could have sworn I heard something snap.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!!"

"Hey, ow! Stop! Emilia, that hurts!"

"Ahahahahaha! This is such fun!"

Please, I'm begging you.

Why won't you stop provoking her? Why won't Emilia stop taking the bait?

Why?

Why am I surrounded by problem children?


	9. V2 Ch1: Crimson Hunter Red

**A slightly longer chapter. Review, please! I like those!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 2

Photon Art Online

 **Chapter 1**

 **Crimson Hunter Red**

 **ooo000ooo**

 **I**

 **ooo000ooo**

The sound of a saber swinging erratically through the air filled my ears as I stood a few centimeters away.

The person swinging said saber raised it up again and swung down, tracing an uneven glowing line that vanished faster than the eye can follow.

It was the worst saber swing I had seen in my eighteen years of living.

"Bad. Again."

"What? Oh, come _on_! We've been at this for an hour now! Can't we take a break?"

"No."

"Ugh... slave driver..."

Ignoring my partner's complaints, I continued watching her carefully.

Of course, I kept my guard up.

We were currently back in Parum's Raffon Meadow.

Wide, open space, good environment, it was an ideal place for practicing using a saber.

That's right, I was currently teaching my partner, the exasperating Emilia Percival, how to use a saber.

Why? It's... a long story.

"Why do I have to learn this, anyway?"

"You were the one who asked me to train you!"

"Yeah, but... why a saber? I can fight just fine with my rod!"

True, she can.

But that fighting she's referring to is limited to firing off Techs and hoping for the best.

It worked so far, but in this line of work, you can never be certain.

"Honestly? If your Techs didn't work, what then?"

"Isn't that what you're here for?"

Ah, this girl.

I would very much like to smack her upside the head, just to shake her brain.

"And if I'm not available?"

"Oh... um, run away?"

There's a limit to how carefree one person can get, you know. Even if you're not a mercenary.

The thing is, she really does want to learn how to fight. I've seen it in her eyes. I _felt_ it.

But her attitude and fighting in general are worlds apart from being compatible.

I release what might have been my two hundredth sigh ever since that day in the relic site.

"Look, the saber is the easiest melee weapon to use for a Vanguard. Do you wanna learn how to use daggers, instead? Or twin sabers?"

I could practically see her shiver.

"Okay, okay, I get it... But can't I rest a little? My hands are shaking..."

"Oh, for... Alright, fine."

"Finally!"

And then she threw the saber hilt away and plopped down towards the grass.

How ungraceful can you be?

Oh well... I might as well make the most of this free time.

I activated my palette and summoned two saber hilts, one for each hand. I activated them and two red beams of light extended from the base.

I swung with my right hand, feeling the weightless blade slice the air in front of me.

Wasting no time, I crossed the left blade with it and slashed in a cross fashion, bringing my right knee forward to balance myself.

I immediately brought it back and switched my left blade into a backhand grip as I spun clockwise, forming a thick circular slash around me with two sabers.

I stepped forward with my right foot again, finishing with a slanted and straight version of the cross-slash that left a thick diagonal line in the air.

I brought the twin sabers to rest on either side of me, evaluating my work.

I did all the steps right, but I felt like I was too slow. The point of using twin sabers is to overwhelm your opponent with a volley of quick strikes.

But I think I'm too accustomed in timely efficient strikes and playing defensively.

Nothing a little practice can't fix.

Just then, I heard some enthusiastic clapping from behind me.

"Hey, that was cool! So different from your usual style!"

"That's the point. I took my own advice. I can't just rely on one style."

"But don't you have a handgun?"

"That's mainly a distraction."

It's true, my handgun isn't powerful enough to serve as a primary means of attack.

"Wow, I guess I better brush up, huh? Can't fall behind my partner too much."

With that, she stood up and picked her saber from the ground.

Activating the blade, she entered her stance and looked forward with a focused expression.

"Let's see... steady your footing, tighten your grip, straighten your back and..."

And then she moved.

She raised her saber and quickly brought it down, leaning her body and right knee forward for extra range.

Immediately after that, she reversed her grip and swung upwards, bending backwards to accommodate the inertia.

And then she returned to her original grip and slashed forward yet again, this time with a more horizontal-oriented swing.

Right after that, she brought the saber to rest at her side and pointed her left hand's index and middle finger forward and the thumb upwards, twisting her body sideways, left foot forward.

And she jerked her hand upwards in a firing motion.

" _Bang_!"

What... what was that?

That was actually not bad.

While I was still in mild shock, she turned towards me with a smug look on her face.

"Heh, how's that?"

"That was... better. Though if you do that bang thing in a real fight, you'd be in trouble."

"Th-that's not...! I was copying your style!"

"I do not say 'bang!' when I fire my gun."

"I know, that was just...! Oh, forget it!"

She looked away with a pout, a faint tinge of red visible on her cheeks. I couldn't help chuckling a little.

Heh, it's surprisingly fun teasing this girl. For a smart person, she's relatively simple-minded.

Still, it was a little amazing she managed to copy the basics of my saber style on her first try.

I guess it's true, there really are prodigies out there.

Any further musings of mine, however, were cut short by a loud roar echoing throughout the open plains.

Perfect.

Training wasn't the only reason we traveled here.

We also took an open mission to hunt down a Gol Dolva. Large, ugly, quadruped creatures with tough hides that trample down anything that comes close.

"H-hey, what's that?"

"Our target."

And sure enough, the bushes along the horizon were flattened as the ugly bugger appeared.

I summoned my saber and handgun, activating my shield weave along the way.

I saw Emilia preparing to summon her rod, but I quickly put a stop.

"Hey, saber only! This is a good opportunity for training!"

"Wha? Oh, come on!"

She complained but she still followed my orders, albeit with a begrudging expression written on her face.

And with that, we got out of the way as the Gol Dolva charged.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **II**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Watch out!"

I called out to Emilia, who was currently in front of the Gol Dolva's path.

She managed to avoid getting trampled by jumping away right on time, performing a ground roll to stabilize her momentum.

"Haa... Come, on! Won't this thing die already?"

She complained while she picked herself up and dusted her clothes.

I'd reprimand her if not for the fact that I share her sentiments word for word.

We've been fighting this giant monster for almost fifteen minutes.

And unlike the fight against the Bag Degga, there weren't any convenient cliffs nearby.

In paper, fifteen minutes is not that long. Of course, when it comes to combat, where the energy you spend with every movement is significantly higher, this amount of time is almost too long.

And when a fight drags on and it turns into a war of attrition, you tend to make mistakes. And mistakes when fighting a hostile wild creature can quite possibly be your last.

It also didn't help that we've been using only our sabers. The damn thing is barely reacting to our attacks at all.

Time to bring out the big guns.

Emilia must have noticed my expression, turning towards me and asking.

"Kara, got any ideas?"

"Yeah, stand back a little."

As Emilia did as I said, the Gol Dolva finished turning around from where it stopped its earlier charge.

I changed the settings on my saber, but instead of setting it to stun or kill, I set it into the _third_ option.

Overdrive.

The saber started whirring after a while, and the energy blade intensified, almost blindingly.

I pointed it at the now charging Gol Dolva.

"Come at me, ugly bastard."

"Woohoo! So cool!"

Shut up, you noisy girl.

I prepared my stance as the big brute of a monster inched ever so slowly.

And when it was less than a meter away, I leapt into action.

" **[Infinite Storm]**!"

I swung my saber forward, a thick beam of light accentuating the slash's path.

The Gol Dolva roared in pain, as the strike's force stopped its charge completely.

But I wasn't finished.

I stepped forward with my left foot as I slashed again, and again, and again.

With each blow, the creature was pushed back, farther than the last every time as its hold on the ground was lost slowly but surely.

And as a final blow, I held my saber in a reverse forehand grip and swung upwards.

The blade struck the Gol Dolva's chin square on, with a blast of compressed air sending it flying a good distance away.

"W-woah...!"

Emilia sputtered out in shock, completely stunned by what had transpired.

To be honest, I was a little surprised too. I expected the strike to knock out the monster, not launch it into the air.

We couldn't start celebrating yet, however, as, to our complete bewilderment, the Gol Dolva stood up yet again.

"Wha? What is that thing made of?!"

"Lard and muscle. Alright... Huh?"

I raised my saber, preparing to engage once more, but I was cut short by one more surprise.

There was a distinct lack of a blade on my saber's handle.

"Uh... Kara?"

"What the _fuck_?! Goddamn it!"

"H-hey, language!"

Ignoring my partner who was startled by my outburst, I started fiddling around with my saber.

Nothing. It was busted. Overdrive must have fried its systems.

See, this is what I get for trying to save money on eqiupment.

"Oh, whatever!"

I threw it away and summoned my twin sabers. Problem is, these aren't high quality ones. I brought these for practice purposes.

It was at this moment that the Gol Dolva started charging at us once more, albeit slower than earlier.

Seeing that I was incapable of fighting at the moment, Emilia stepped forward and assumed a battle stance.

"What the hell're your doing?"

"Your weapon's busted! It's my time to shine!"

Seeing as she was right, I said nothing. Emilia raised her arms forward and activated her palette.

"Clarita Visas, _come forth!_ "

A bright glow enveloped her hands for a moment, and when it dissipated...

Nothing.

"Huh?"

Her back was turned to me but I could just picture her looking blank.

"L-lets try that again..."

Another glow, and another glaring absence of a certain magical rod.

Meanwhile, the Gol Dolva was a handful of meters away.

After a while, Emilia suddenly perked up, and a bad feeling erupted from within my gut.

"Oh! I left it at my room!"

I could have sworn time stopped if it wasn't for the large creature stampeding towards us.

"You _idiot_!"

"I'm sorry! I forgot, really!"

Usually, you never have a need to leave your weapons somewhere.

The palette can provide godly convenience so long as you calibrate the weapons to it

But I guess with Emilia Percival, you just never know.

I prepared to grab her but she hurriedly stopped me in a desperate attempt to salvage her pride.

"N-no wait, I got this!"

She put her arms forward, pointing both of her plams towards the ever so close Gol Dolva.

Oh please don't tell me...

" **[Razonde]**!"

Oh, she did.

And it went as disastrously as you'd expect.

A loud explosion, punctuated by wild bolts of electricity resounded throughout the open meadow.

The good thing about it is that the Gol Dolva was blown away by the blast.

" _*cough*cough*_! Emilia! You alright?"

I called out towards the blast's epicenter, unable to see anything due to the cloud of smoke.

I'd be worried if I wasn't so filled with the familiar feeling of exasperation.

"I-I'm okay..."

Before I could feel some semblance of relief, the smoke cleared enough for me to see.

And then I saw...

" _Pffffttt_...!"

"W-why are you laughing?! What...?!"

Excuse me for being crude, Ms. Percival.

But, no, I'm not sorry.

She didn't have any major injuries, but she was absolutely covered in soot.

And her hair...

The best thing to describe it would be... _electrifying_.

As in, stiff and pointing in all directions.

Instead of answering her, I summoned my shield and showed her a reflective part.

There was eerie silence for a while.

"M-m-my hair...! Aaaaggghhh!!!"

" _Snrk_...!"

I'm trying to resist bursting out in laughter, I really am!

In response, she just gave me a dirty look.

Our small banter was interrupted, however, by a loud but weak roar.

As if to remind us of its presence, the Gol Dolva started running again.

"K-Kara, do something!"

"Oh, to hell with it...!"

Before we could re-engage though, the sound of a gust of wind echoed throughout the plains.

And a moment after it, a familiar voice.

" **[Tornado Dance]**!"

Before we could look, a bright orange horizontal tornado tore through the grasslands and violently collided against the Gol Dolva.

Blood exploded outwards and blown away by the resulting gusts.

As the Gol Dolva fell towards the ground, dead before it even landed, the tornado slowly dissipated to reveal a person spinning rapidly.

Said person quickly switched from a sideways spinning top twist to a forward ground roll, stopping their momentum gracefully.

On their hands was an orange intricate double saber.

And their hair was a familiar flame red.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **III**

 **ooo000ooo**

The redhead mercenary smirked as she walked towards us, dismissing her double saber with a bright flash of light.

She instantly froze as soon she saw my partner's bedraggled state however...

"Pfft! Ahahahaha!"

"Don't you laugh! Stop it!"

Emilia stomped her foot as she tried to quell Red's laughter to no avail.

She eventually stopped though, wiping tears from the corner of her eyes.

The damage was already done, however.

"W-what happened to you...?"

"None of your business!"

Emilia rudely snapped. Red didn't seem to mind though, still sporting the same amused look on her face as earlier.

Instead, she continued her approach towards us, ignoring Emilia's hostile aura.

"So, what brings you here?"

I asked as soon as she was close enough to converse with properly and civilly.

She brought her arms up, elbows pointing to the ground and palms facing upwards.

"Eh, I was on a job of mine. Saw you guys in a pinch and since I like you two so much, I gave a hand."

I'm not sure but I swear there was a patronizing tone somewhere in her answer.

"A hand? We were doing just fine, thank you very much!"

My partner didn't seem to like her answer, however.

In fact, she looked quite offended.

"You don't look like it, though. _Snrk_...!"

Red covered her mouth with her hand in a half-hearted attempt to hide her budding laughter.

"Stop laughing, it was an accident!"

If you call trying to cast a Tech without a proper weapon then, sure, whatever floats your boat.

Red had an expression that looked far from buying it though.

"Whatever you say, _bolthead_."

"What did you say?!"

"Emilia, stop, c'mon."

"But...! Oh, fine..."

I felt it was time to intervene. As entertaining as it is, I better not let this escalate further.

Thankfully, she heeded my words. I was honestly surprised myself.

Grumbling to herself, Emilia picked a clean spot on the grass a short distance away to sit on before attempting to fix her hair.

"Hehe, you guys are such an entertaining bunch."

I turned to look at Red with an exasperated expression, to which she just shrugged.

"... You said you had a job? Still freelance?"

"Hm? Nah, I joined a mercenary company recently."

Well, that's a little surprising.

But I guess I can't blame her, though. It's really challenging being freelance for so long. Now, I'm curious which company took her in.

I didn't have to ask, though. Red put her hands on her hips, looking quite proud of herself.

"You're looking at the newest member of Little Wing! _Crimson Hunter Red_!"

Are you a child?

Wait, Little Wing?

I was so caught off guard by the over the top introduction that it almost didn't even register.

A certain someone didn't waste time, though.

"Huh?! Boss hired _you_?!"

"Yeah, got a problem with it, _bolthead_?"

"S-stop calling me that, you _kill-stealer_!"

Ignoring the two kids' banter, I turned back to Red and asked about another important detail I noticed.

"... Crimson Hunter Red? Where'd you get that name, from the Redundant Department of Redundancy?"

I can safely say that Red didn't expect that at all, judging by stunned look on her face.

Before long, her cheeks started heating up in what I assume to be embarrassment.

"S-shut up! It's not my fault my name and my title mean the same thing!"

"Title? It's not some kiddy made up name?"

"I'm SEVENTEEN! I told you before!"

"Ahahahahaha!"

Emilia burst out laughing shortly after.

I have no idea why Red insists on dishing out jabs and insults if she can't take it.

Then again, Emilia's verbal attacks don't seem to work against her. It's either my partner just sucks at name-calling or the midget reacts differently to my words.

I'm desperately hoping it's the latter. I already have a problem child in my custody. I'm not sure I can handle another one.

"W-whatever! I've got things to do so bye!"

And with that she started walking away.

"Oooh, the great Maroon Hunter walks away! How disgraceful."

Red stopped.

But before Emilia could form a triumphant expression, Red turned her head back and shrugged smugly.

"Smell ya later, _bolthead_! And thanks for the free kill!"

"So you admit it! Hey, come back here! Arrgghh!"

Please, please just let it go.

Thankfully, Red ignored my partner's taunts and fled the scene.

Said partner then plopped back down on the ground, thoroughly annoyed that Red got the last laugh.

Seeing as I can't exactly leave with my partner photosynthesizing on the ground, I sat down a small distance away.

I felt the soft grass cushion my bottom, providing decent comfortably as the wind gently blew across the meadow.

Ah, this is nice. If I wasn't so damn tired, I'd fall asleep easily.

"... well, things certainly got hectic."

I muttered out, mostly commenting to myself.

"Boy, you can say that again. That Gol Dolva was a pain to bring down! And that... kill-strealing jerk certainly didn't help!"

Oh no, I unknowingly instigated a rant.

At this point, I'm mostly just used to it. If I just let her talk, she'll eventually stop.

Since I don't really have anything else to do, I might as well just let her let off some steam.

See, I'm thoughtful that way.

"Ugh... Showing initiative is harder than I thought. I figured training and missions'll get my mind of things but... it really didn't."

"At least we managed to accomplish both. I'm gonna need to buy a new saber..."

"Hee-Hee... Yeah, that sucks, huh?"

It really does.

At the very least, I can take solace in the fact that her mood improved.

When she's in the complaining mood, things tend to not get done, or worse, blow up on our faces.

After a while, Emilia sat up from where she was lying, looking at nothing in particular.

"Mika, can we talk now?"

As if on Emilia's command, a bright golden light enveloped her body.

But instead of the gold runes appearing on her body whenever Mika takes over, an equally bright light appeared beside her.

And when the light faded, standing there was the Ancient herself, looking as serene as ever.

"Hello, Emilia. Have you thought things over?"

"Honestly, it's still a little confusing but if what you showed me _is_ true... then I don't really have time to be confused, do I?"

Emilia said, the same determined look that she showed me before clearly visible.

Upon hearing her words, Mika started looking hopeful but still just a little bit apprehensive.

"Your answer then?"

Emilia stood up, looking straight into the eyes of the taller Mika.

"I believe you. Well, you _do_ live inside me, after all. I don't really have much of a choice, right?"

I never saw someone, Ancient or not, look so _overjoyed_. Those simple words from Emilia managed to light up her face just like that.

Of course, those words might have meant the world to her.

"What do you think, Kara?"

Emilia asked me next, still looking laser focused.

I know it's a serious conversation and all but I'm just not used to seeing her like this.

Well, I suppose some mischief wouldn't hurt...

"I believe you."

I said, not to Mika, but to Emilia.

"What, me? Why _me_?"

She asked, looking completely lost. In response, I gave her a very meaningful shrug.

"So since you believe me, does that mean you believe Mika too? I guess... That's a little confusing. Maybe you should just believe Mika directly."

"I believe you, Mika."

"... You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

Our little banter caused Mika to chuckle gently, in a voice not unlike music gently singing to your ears.

"Thank you... _Both_ of you."

Seeing the sincerely grateful smile is enough to bring out a smile of my own, and I'm sure Emilia feels the same.

There's just something about Mika that draws you to her. Something so honest and genuine that just makes you feel at home.

Of course, if we just stand here and smile at each other, we won't get anything done.

"So, what's the plan, then?"

"That remains to be seen. We must first see where our investigation leads us."

Mika said with a downtrodden but serious expression. This got Emilia back into a thinking position.

"So, still at square one. The only thing we know is that we can't let the subspace research continue... But how do we stop an interplanetary research project?"

What's subspace got to do with this?

I'm not sure if it was mentioned before and I just forgot, or it's something only Mika and Emilia currently knows because of the memory sharing thing.

I was tempted to ask but I voted against it. If it's important, I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later.

One thing I do know is that stopping the subspace program, as Emilia noted, is that we aren't doing it on our own.

"... maybe Kraz can help?"

I suggested, and Emilia looked at me like I'm an idiot.

I'd be offended but knowing Kraz...

"The boss? He'll never believe us. Laugh us outta the room's more like it."

"And who are we supposed to ask? The Guardians?"

"Hmph. As if they'll give us any time of day. But Kraz..."

Emilia spent a while pondering it, as me and Mika waited.

I'm equally hesitant in asking Kraz but if we can't get Little Wing on our side then we're truly on our own.

And I'm not sure if I can feel confident about our chances.

"... Emilia?"

"... Well, I guess it can't hurt to run it through him..."

After a while, Emilia threw her shoulders down and let out a resigned sigh.

I can't say I don't understand the feeling. Our hands are really tied this time.

"Don't worry, I'm with you on this one."

My words made Emilia look at me with a grateful smile on her face.

"Thanks, Kara."

 **ooo000ooo**

 **IV**

 **ooo000ooo**

The plan was simple.

Return to Little Wing, talk to Kraz, get laughed at, and mope around in our ship.

But all that came crashing down when a certain redhead midget caught the eye of the ever focused Emilia Percival.

"Ahahahaha! This is such fun!"

I was now currently restraining my raging partner, while Red laughed her ass off in front of us.

I don't know why we keep running into this little troublemaker but I'm sure it can't be anything good.

No time to try and think about it now, though. I went ahead and decided to remind my partner.

"Don't we have to talk to the boss?"

After a while, Emilia did calm down, thankfully, so I let her go.

I feared she'd charge Red the moment I set her free but looks like she's planning on being sensible.

"Alright, fine... But this isn't over, you hear me?"

"Whatever you say..."

I saw her eye twitch for a moment but, thank heavens, she kept on walking.

And so did Red.

"... why are you following us?"

"You guys're gonna talk to the boss, right? Might be entertaining so I'll stick around."

"... why?"

She just shrugged and continued walking behind us.

This girl is _seriously_ weird.

Choosing to ignore her for now, we stepped inside Little Wing's office, where we yet again ran into some familiar faces.

"Hey, if it isn't Kara and Emilia! How's it going?"

The dark-skinned beastling, Tonnio, greeted, catching us by surprise. By his side was his similarly-sized partner and wife, Liina.

Well, this is certainly a surprise and a half. We haven't seen these two since that mission in Crodog.

"Oh! Hey, Tonnio, Liina! What're you guys doing here?"

Emilia cheerfully asked from beside me. Seems like the Rhimas grew on her in the short time we spent together.

Can't say I don't feel the same. These two have proven to be trustworthy co-workers and friends.

"Oh, you know, signing away our lives..."

Tonnio jokingly shrugged.

But then that means...

"You joined Little Wing?"

"Glad to be part of the team!"

Liina answered in a cheerful voice, confirming my suspicions.

Of course, they weren't really trying to make a secret of it.

"We really lucked out, you know, with Kraz's have-skill-will-hang attitude towards recruits. Most companies won't even look twice at a former pirate like me."

"Huh? You used to be a pirate, Liina?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you next time, okay?"

Liina gently answered my partner's curious question, which was no doubt going to lead to an interview.

To be fair, I was a bit curious too. But since she did say it was a long story, it's going to have to wait.

Let's ask a different question, then.

"So how'd you end up signing here?"

"Me and Liina ran into Kraz while we were going after the ones who hit the Kasch Village."

Tonnio helpfully supplied in place of Liina, who was now excitedly chatting with Emilia about a different topic.

I could see Emilia was paying attention to Tonnio's words, however, glancing at us during breaks in her conversation with the female beastling.

"There were plenty of places we found our hands were tied, you know, being freelance. We needed help, Kraz needed help, and it works out well for us all."

I see.

Of course, I understand it well enough. Despite the added hecticness since I joined Little Wing, life has gotten so much easier.

So I can't say I blame them for jumping on the chance to sign up.

Little Wing is probably the only company I know of that doesn't give a damn about who you are, as long as you have skills.

So it really does work out for us all.

"As long as you don't mind running personal errands and getting tossed into relic sites without so much as a _map_..."

Emilia complained, almost causing me to facepalm. The things this girl says...

"Why would there be a map? It's called unexplored for a reason, you know..."

I received a glare in return. I smirked back.

I thought she was gonna fire back but she just ignored me and returned her attention back to the Rhimas.

"Anyway, working for Kraz can be a real chore sometimes. I hope you can take it."

I don't know what came over her that she got it in her head that she's qualified to give advice but...

Nah, nevermind. Sometimes, it's funnier when she falls flat on her face.

As her partner, it's my responsibility to be the first to laugh at her. Oh, and help her up too, I guess.

Tonnio, at the very least, didn't seem worried at all.

"Guess we'll find out, won't we?"

Yeah, I guess we will.

Bidding farewell to us, the Rhimas walked out of the office, leaving me and Emilia by ourselves again.

Man, are those two ever apart?

Anyway, it's time to talk to Kraz. Emilia went on ahead, but before I could follow...

"Wow, I guess I'm not the newest recruit anymore, huh?"

"... you're still here?"

I'd completely forgotten Red was still with us, being silent the entire time.

I'm still not close to finding out what's the deal with this girl.

Ignoring her for now, I followed Emilia to Kraz's desk. And what I witnessed was...

"Oooh, my... _yes_... she's coming along nicely. Sometimes the flower that blooms late is worth waiting for! Look at... those _petals_! Oh, to be a gardener again..."

The legend, himself.

"If you need me, I'll... be over there..."

And Red awkwardly excused herself. I don't blame her. There aren't much who can stand in the presence of the legendary Kraz Muehler.

"Boss! What the heck are you reading?! Aren't you supposed to be on duty?!"

"Hunh...? Oh, Emilia, it's you. Sure ya should be up'n'screechin' like that so early?"

"I am NOT screeching!"

No, I'm pretty sure you are.

I'm gonna keep that comment to myself, though. I'm just gonna hang back and watch this unfold.

I know I said I'm with Emilia on this one but... let's watch this unfold first since she's so eager.

We're already off to a great start as Kraz stuck a finger in his ear.

"Hmph. Then do explain why my ears are ringin'. Naw, on second thought, don't bother. I got a job for ya..."

"Actually there's something I want to talk to you about..."

"I suppose you'll wanna know where yer goin'. A research lab belonging to the Inhelt Corporation."

Hey, I don't know about Emilia but this actually sounds like it might be a real job.

"Um, excuse me? I said there was something I wanted to-"

"You'll be removing some unwanted lifeforms that escaped from the facility's surface-level environmental bio labs. Specifically-"

"Look, I don't care about some stupid mop job! I need to talk to you about something."

Hoo, boy. She's gone and done it now. The look on Kraz's face tells me as much.

S-should I step in...? I'm really not sure...

"Something more important than a request from a very, _very_ good client?"

"Yes! Yes, it is! It's something that affects the _entire_ Gurhal System!"

"The _entire_... huh?"

"There's this ancient civilization, see? They want our system, and if we don't do something quick, they're going to _take_ it!"

It's already crazy enough as is, but it sounds crazier when it's not me or Mika saying it.

Nah, scratch that. Everything sounds crazier when Emilia says it.

"You don't say."

"I _do_ say! This is bad. _Real_ bad! Why am I the only one freaking out here?!"

I know about it too but you don't see me freaking out about it.

Granted, me freaking out is next to impossible. It's not that I'm not worried about the situation but...

Kraz, on the other hand, is starting to look more and more annoyed with each passing word from Emilia.

"Hrm. Let's see now. Terrible threat to the system? Nah. Crusty invading civ? Nah. Ah! You freaking out? Yeah. I applaud your honesty."

"I'm being serious! We're all in terrible danger!"

"...of getting a headache. Oops. Too late. By the by, any idea which company's been taking the lead in subspace research?"

"...Inhelt Corporation?"

"The girl knows her stuff! Next question: which corporation wants us to help them out? Take your time."

"Inhelt Corporation... Wait, that's it! I have to get them to stop their subspace research immediately!"

I...

Okay, this is just too painful.

I don't know why she thought saying that out loud was a good idea. Really, it's always the extremes with this girl.

One second, she's the laziest person in the system. The next, she's plotting on conquering it.

In any case, Kraz looked just about done.

"Why do I always get the crazy ones? _Why_? You pull any of that nonsense with one of my clients and ancient invaders'll be the last of your problems."

"Why won't you believe me?! You're making a terrible mistake!"

"No, my terrible mistake was hiring you. This is just me reaping what I sowed. A word to the wise: knock off the crazy shtick. You want me to believe the sky is falling? Or some ancient civ getting all up in our subspace? Show me proof."

"...If I get proof, you promise to hear me out?"

For a second there, I thought she really did have genuine proof. That she took a picture of the guy in black or something.

But it all came crashing down shortly after as familiar dark feeling resurfaced in my gut.

"Then HERE'S YOUR PROOF! _Come forth, Mika_!"

With the same bright golden light, Mika appeared by Emilia's side, looking as graceful ever.

Her expression, on the other hand...

This is honestly too much to bear...

"Um..."

If I was Mika, I'd have said the exact same thing.

"Well, Boss? How's that for proof?! Not every day you see someone possessed by a spirit from an ancient race!"

"Emilia, I hate to intrude, but-"

"Go on Mika, tell him! Open up his beady little eyes and show him the truth!"

I don't know why Emilia thought this was a good idea. I thought that bit of important detail would be included in the memory-sharing thing.

Or at the very least, that Mika told her that normal people can't see her.

Well, she's certainly telling her now.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you this earlier. Normal people cannot see me."

"...huh?"

I had to look away at this point.

Really. I'm now regretting not stopping her earlier.

Never did I think that Emilia making a fool of herself would make me feel like a total piece of shit.

Kraz looked just abouy ready to lose it, though.

"This is _really_ entertaining. Are ya done yet?"

"No, wait, she's here, really! She's beside… me."

"I asked if WE'RE DONE!"

"I… uh… Oh, _blast it all_."

At this point, Kraz ran out of shits to give.

He turned his attention to me.

"Feh. Maybe it was a mistake teaming Emilia up with you after all. I didn't think it was possible but she's gotten even _worse_!"

"I,uh... S-sorry, boss..."

"There are few things in this world that an apology can make better. Believe me, I've tried. Pay me back by workin'."

Well, at least, I'm not in too much trouble. Emilia, on the other hand...

Shit, I feel so goddamn terrible...

"I'd be angry if I wasn't so full of crushing despair. Just go do your job. You can get the scoop at the Mission Terminal."

"R-roger..."

"And forgive me if the thought of you two out there doesn't fill me with confidence. Take the new recruit with ya. What's her name? Scarlet, or somethin'?"

Oh, no.

Oh, no no no no no.

No.

This is nothing but a recipe for disaster. Emilia and Red on the same mission?

Yeah, we're truly and well _screwed_.

B-but, _Boss_ -"

Emilia tried to complain, in what was one last ditch effort to salvage the situation.

Predictably, it failed.

"Shut mouth. 180-degree turn. Leave. Don't make my headache any worse than it is. You wouldn't like me when I'm grumpy."

Oh, _blast it all_.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **V**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Ooohh, nice place. Guess it pays to have the best tech, huh?"

Red half wondered out loud, half asked me as she examined the interior of Inhelt's lab.

It's been a pretty uneventful journey from Clad 6.

Red had no complaints when we told her she's part of our team for the mission, not that she had any right to, since it was the boss's orders.

But still, knowing her, I thought she'd make it harder for us like she usually does.

Guess I was wrong.

In any case, we arrived at Inhelt, met with the client's representatives, and now we're off hunting unwanted escapee lifeforms.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner, Mika...?"

"Sorry..."

Of course, a major reason why there wasn't any trouble was because of Emilia's despondent mood.

Boy, that conversation with the boss really crushed all her good spirits.

"Beast guy, that weirdo's been talking to herself all the way here. Dont'cha think you should do something?"

Red asked as she approached me, looking absolutely weirded out.

Ah, that's right, only me and Emilia can see or hear Mika. Red can't acknowledge her presence at all.

But still, she _does_ have a point. We're not gonna accomplish anything if Emilia just mopes around all day, so I approached her.

"Hey."

"Huh? Oh, it's you."

Wow, thanks for the enthusiasm. Really, I appreciate it. It's not like I'm trying to cheer you up or anything.

I decided against saying that out loud, of course. I'm already failing at lifting her spirits up, no need to make it worse.

"You okay?"

"Don't mind me. Whatever good cred I had with the boss is _shot_ now, so whatever."

"Come on, don't give up already. We might still be able to convince him."

"Really? I can imagine how I must've looked from where he was standing. If that little display didn't convince you that there's no hope then I have no idea what will."

I'm trying to be positive for her sake but she's making me work for it.

And I don't like unnecessary work.

"Look, let's just finish the mission. Who knows, maybe he'll come around when we've done good work."

"... you really think so?"

"Hell if I know. But hey, you can never hope too much, can't you?"

I told her, my words genuinely being what I feel.

Maybe we're all screwed now, I have no idea. But no one really trusts a rookie right off the bat, which is what Emilia basically is.

Anyway, the general rule is that you make up for mistakes by working and not sweating the small stuff. It might not be the case for Kraz but it's all we can do for now.

Thankfully, my answer caused Emilia to perk up a little, standing up from the corner she was sulking in.

"Well, I suppose you still believe me. That's something, I guess..."

She smiled at me warmly as she said, a faint, almost invisible outline of red eminent on her cheeks.

Heh, I don't know how I did it but mission accomplished. She's up and running again and we may be able to complete this mission!

"That's the spirit."

"Hey, if you two are done making smoochy faces at each other, we have a job to do!"

Of course not. Why the heck did I even think otherwise?

Fortunately, Emilia looked more annoyed than embarassed, and that's good enough for me. I don't need any additional problematic parameters.

"Ugh, no! We've only known each other for less than a month!"

"... really?"

"Yes, really! I'm in a bad mood today, don't make it worse!"

"Okay, okay, sheesh, can't take a joke, can we?"

With a huff, Emilia turned her attention back to me, leaving the still smirking Red.

Is she ever not smirking?

"So, Kara, what's the mission?"

"Did you not read the- Oh, you know what? _Forget it_. Alright, listen up."

As the boss said, some of the creatures from the labs escaped, mainly the ones kept for testing purposes. Our job is to track them down and take them out.

Specifically, the Astarks. Large, yellow, insect-like bipedal monsters with long, sharp claws.

They're a new breed from the Seed attack the years ago. Seed mutations, if I remember correctly.

There've been all kinds of new species popping up lately, the Evil Sharks from the Relic Site, for example. This is just the latest.

"As for the other creatures that escaped, we're supposed to get rid of as many as we can."

I finished my mission briefing, looking at the attentive face of Emilia and the not-so-attentive but still listening Red.

"Right. No problem. Look out, I'm a girl with a mission now!"

Emilia lackadaisically cheered, though it's probably a concealed attempt to motivate herself.

"Heh. Try not to blow yourself up this time."

"Red, _please_."

I thought it would start another argument but, to my great surprise, Emilia just ignored the redhead's taunts. Instead, she kept on walking forward.

"Huh. Weird."

"Look, things are a bit rough for her for now. Can't you leave her alone for a while, at least?"

"... lover's quarrel?"

I gave her a completely unimpressed deadpan stare. She blinked blankly at me. Looks like she got the hint, mercifully.

"Alright, jeez, I get it. I was just tryna lighten the atmosphere, you know? How depressing..."

There's a limit to how tactless one can get, you know.

In any case, we might as well start hunting for Astarks, if only to finish the mission faster.

Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long, as a loud roar resonated along the corridor.

Right now, I have no idea what it is, but I'd be willing to bet good money it's one of our targets.

I exchanged quick glances with Emilia and Red, before we sprinted across the hallway.

Looks like we got our work cut out for us.


	10. V2 Ch2: Five Hours At Inhelt

**Leave a review, please! They're tasty!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 2

Photon Art Online

 **Chapter 2**

 **Five Hours At Inhelt**

 **ooo000ooo**

 **I**

 **ooo000ooo**

I got out of the way as the huge insectoid fell down face first onto the hard, unforgiving ground, which was now its resting place.

Firmly impaled on its back was an orange double saber, gripped by the perplexing petite redhead mercenary, Crimson Hunter Red.

I still think the name is redundant as hell.

"Another one for me! That makes five now!"

For some reason, she got it into her head to start an Astark hunting contest, and before me or Emilia could refuse, she was already keeping score.

That is to say, she singlehandedly killed one in record time.

For all the annoyance she's capable of bringing me and my partner, she's one of the most talented mercenaries I've ever seen. A fact that I regularly forget.

It deals a huge blow to my pride but I can safely say she'd beat me in a one-on-one fight. She's just that prodigious that, even with my experience and versatility, she's got the edge on me.

But even then, I can't see her as anything more than a juvenile troublemaker because of her antics.

It also doesn't help that she's a full head shorter than me.

"Heh. You guys plan on catching up?"

"Grr...! Kara, we gotta up our game!"

Oh, and of course, Emilia took the challenge, despite mainly being my support.

Really, despite how talented these two are, in their own unique ways, I _still_ despair over the fact that I'm basically stuck with two kids for this mission.

Oh and by the way, the score was 5-3 in Red's favor. Not counting the small fry escapees.

"We've been at this for several minutes now, how many more Astarks left?"

Red asked as we caught our breath. Despite the Astarks not being terribly hard opponents, it was still three against many, frequently.

"According to the mission details, there should be one or two left."

"Oh, too bad. Looks like a tie's the best you can get!"

Why? Why is she approaching this too competitively? I get trying to boost enthusiasm but this feels completely different.

Almost like she's trying to prove a point or something. Bah, what do I know.

As I was not-so-deep in thought, I felt a slight tug at my sleeves. Turning around, I saw that it was Emilia.

What does she want, I wonder?

"Hey, Kara. We're not gonna let Red win, are we?"

Never mind, then!

" _Gyaaoooooo_!"

As I was in the process of deadpanning Emilia's childish question, a loud roar thundered along the nearby hallway, almost certainly an Astark.

I pulled out my new saber's hilt and activated it, feeling the bright beam of light extend and take the shape of an elongated blade.

Emilia and Red did the same, summoning their respective weapons and standing on guard as the loud thumping gradually loudened with each stomp.

And finally, after a few moments, a target appeared, the yellow exoskeleton of the Astark gleaming from the lab's bright lights.

"Alright, you know the drill, get in position. Don't engage head-on, avoid the poison breath, use distractions. _Go_!"

If there was something I was grateful for at that moment, it was that Emilia and Red both surprisingly follows simple orders like that.

They mostly do their own thing in combat, Red far more so, but I'm very _very_ glad that they have the sense to listen to basic commands.

Arguing while in combat is probably the most pointlessly stupid and dangerous mistake to make.

The Astark roared loudly upon noticing us, and jumped up and rolled up into a ball. Upon landing, it quickly sped in our direction.

We dodged it successfully, but it ricocheted off the walls, picking up more speed each time it did.

It was like a heavily dangerous game of dodgeball.

After a while, it stopped, and we took the opportunity.

I released the charged handgun shot I've been holding since it cannonballed us at its face, bringing it off balance.

" **[Rafoie]**!"

Emilia went next, blasting the insectoid with a scorching explosion, the force of it creating a shockwave that dragged the creature against the hard, tiled ground.

The moment it managed to stop its backwards acceleration, Red was already in front of it.

A slash to the arm, a slash at the leg. A slash at the torso and a slash at the chest, followed by a quick somersault kick that tilted it backwards.

Mind you, that double saber combo happened in the span of _two seconds_.

And as Red leapt away, I was in the air, my saber secured in a two-hand grip.

Sorry, buddy, just business.

"Kara, watch out!"

"Huh- _Gah_!"

I barely managed to summon my shield in time, owing it to Emilia's warning and my own instincts.

And I was sent flying to the wall by a powerful strike.

A loud crash would have assaulted my ears if it weren't for the pain my body was feeling right now.

"Kara! You okay?! Come on, get up! Up!"

"Keep it down, noisy girl, I'm _tryin_ '!"

I grabbed her outstretched hand and stood up, using her pull as support. I gave her a quick nod as thanks.

And right before us was not one, but two Astarks, looking genuinely hostile. Well, not that they don't ever look not hostile.

Before any of us could move though, a red and black blur shot from above and struck one of the Astarks in the face, disorienting it and making it fall down with a loud thud.

Red somersaulted bacwards and landed on top of the other Astark's head, her small size allowing her to do so, albeit with some difficulty.

She jumped to avoid an errant punch, using gravity as extra force as she slashed downwards twice in one stroke.

And the Astark's arm landed a few meters away.

Enraged and in great pain, the Astark trashed around and prepared to slam Red with its remaining arm.

It didn't work though, as Red dodged the strike easily and slashed the arm, blood gushing out.

And a slash upwards to the chin, double slash to the shoulder and she jumped away, as the Astark resorted to its poison breath.

As Red landed near us, the other Astark began standing up, still a bit disoriented but conscious.

"... Having fun?"

"Not as much as I'd like, no. That exoskeleton is damn tough."

She complained as she caught her breath, that entire sequence looked absolutely exhausting if not for the adrenaline rush.

Then let's make it brittle. I looked at Emilia to check if she got the hint. She nodded.

"Emilia, it's our turn."

"Right!"

Just in time, as the two-armed Astark charged at us. We jumped out of the way, as Emilia started casting.

" **[Rabarta]**!"

The blast of cold wind stopped the insectoid in its tracks, the ice forming in its armor's gaps.

Red quickly moved into action, unleashing a barrage of slashes on the semi-frozen Astark, cracking its armor in several places.

As I neared the amputated one, I set my saber on the third-option again.

Let's see how this works!

" **[Rising Strike]**!"

The blade started glowinh blinding red as I swung upwards, overdrive giving my strike the extra _oomph_ to push the creature backwards.

But I wasn't done.

I leapt after it, sending yet another well-placed uppercut on its bloody chin, this time knocking it flat on its back.

I reversed my grip into a two-handed downwards grip, and planted the blade in the Astark's chest as I fell.

It tried struggling pitifully for a while, but it ultimately died in the end.

" **[Razonde]**!"

And a large bolt of lightning dropped down on the frozen and cracked other Astark, the explosion killing it before it started falling on its face.

After one final thud, all we could hear was each other's heavy breathing.

"... tie game, Red."

"Oh, _come on_...!"

 **ooo000ooo**

 **II**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Whew, I thought we'd _never_ get done...!"

My partner complained as we walked through the lab halls, accompanied only by the whirring of the lab equipment and our own footsteps.

And the alarm, which for some reason, was still blaring.

We'd basically turned this place into a slaughterhouse, what with all the dead monsters littering the place.

Thankfully, they're not anywhere near starting to smell yet.

"We just gotta report to the client and go home now."

"Yeah... Soft and comfy bed, here I come..."

Still the same old Emilia...

The mission report said ten Astarks at most, and any other escapees still within the premises.

I can safely say our mission is now complete. Time to get paid.

"Red how're you holding up?"

"Huh? Oh, just fine. Still can't believe it ended up as a tie, though."

She's been awfully quiet the last few minutes that I thought she'd been injured or something. Of course not. Turns out she was just being a child again.

"Then don't let Emilia get the killing blow next time."

"Grr. Crimson Hunter Red _will_ have her revenge."

Really? I can't tell if she's almost as bad as Emilia or worse. They're childish, both of them.

Though, I'm still a bit curious about the name.

"... is Red your actual name?"

"Hm? Course not."

She answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Well, _excuse_ me.

"So what's your real name?"

I asked. I was genuinely curious. If we're going to be working with each other, it couldn't hurt to know each other's real names, right?

Definitely not trying to obtain some blackmail material.

"No way, dude. Not at that stage yet."

"Heh. Guess not."

I wasn't disappointed, per se. If anything, it's more of a joke than an actual question.

Although I am still curious.

"So is Kara your real name or what?"

"Yes, it is. Got a problem with it?"

"Err, no, not really."

"That's what I thought."

I'm guessing she's learned her lesson by now. I just don't understand why she insists on throwing jabs if she can't take it.

An enigma, this one is.

We walked silently for a while, Emilia looking half-asleep so I'm not gonna bother with her for now.

"So, isn't it, like, _hard_ for you?"

"Huh? What is?"

"Your name. Uh, don't the jokes get old?"

"They did a decade ago. I'm used to it."

She nodded in response and went back to her silent mode. The fact that she had one was the most surprising discovery of the day.

I have no idea why she's being friendly all of a sudden.

No, scratch that. With her attitude, I'm willing to bet she doesn't have that many friends, if at all.

Me and Emilia are probably the first ones she worked with for any significant amount of time.

Really, what a kid. A lonely kid trying to hide it. I'm not exactly unfamiliar to the feeling.

"Ugh... that stupid alarm. We took them all out, right? Why's it still sounding?"

Another complaint. I'd be annoyed at her if I wasn't asking the aame question. All the escapees are dead. Shouldn't someone have turned it off by now?

Or questions were answered, or at least, mine, when a man who appeared to be an Inhelt scientist came running towards us.

" _*gasp, *pant,_ You're the folks from Little Wing, right? We've been waiting for you!"

"Why? The mission's done."

"Well, yes, although... You see, we had some synthetics out to put the escapees down but..."

"Let me guess, the synths have gone haywire."

The man nodded and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

Oh, boy. Trouble, my old friend.

What the heck? Is this place run by a bunch of Emilias? Then I better get the hell outta here.

"Synthetics on the rampage? How'd _that_ happen?"

Emilia asked the scientist as she and Red approached. The man's appearance became even more pitiful as he answered.

"Well, to be honest. We have no idea. Though we're looking into it, believe me."

 _Kill me_.

"What kind of synths are we talking about here?"

"Well, mostly GRM-made multipedes, and some swarmers. Ah, and a handful of Grinna Betes as well."

"All those different types going haywire at the same time? Did they have a leader? Something bigger than a Grinna Bete?"

"Er, yes, actually. We were testing a new elite model, the Reol Badia."

"Well, there's your culprit. My guess is that Reol's got a borked command circuit. If it's sending out confused signals, that could cause enough for your haywire synthetics. "

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that?!"

What, _really_?

Fire them. Fire them _all_.

I take my earlier statement back. They're _worse_ than Emilia. Not tooting my horn or anything, but if I knew all those technologies, I'd probably have figured it out.

And I'm not even _that_ bright. Maybe I made a mistake. I should have applied to be a scientist here instead. The standards don't seem to be very high and the pay's gotta be better.

"Bolthead's got a funny way of figuring things out. That some talent of hers or something?"

"I dunno. She did it twice before so probably."

The relic site and the Kasch markings. Those were the two other times I got a glimpse of super-smart Emilia.

It's so different from her usual self that it's weirding the crap outta me.

"Let's worry about the job at hand first, shall we? We gotta take out that Reol Badia before the synths do more damage!"

She seemed to have heard us. Red only smirked at her in response.

I, on the other hand...

"Do we even have permission?"

"Oh, of course! You have my full clearance!"

Is he some bigshot employee that he has the clearance to give us clearance? Hell if I know.

I never got to ask, not that I ever intended to, as he started explaining things.

"The synths are frightfully close to our labs where we're working on our subspace generator."

"You're working on a subspace generator on a lower level, here?"

"Yes. If it weren't so vital, we would have abandoned the lab at the first sign of trouble."

Uh, oh. I hope she's not thinking what I'm thinking she's thinking. I'm really not in the mood to wage war against Inhelt.

"I'm extending your clearance beyond this point until the matter is resolved... you will help us with the synths, yes?"

"That's not in our contract."

"W-what?! B- _but_...!"

The startled look on his face was enough to brighten up my day. It was hilarious.

I'm such a nice person.

"What?! W-wait a sec...!"

My internal laughing was interrupted by a strong pull at my arm, bringing me face to face with Emilia, far out of the hearing range of the others.

"You heard what's below us! A subspace generator!"

She shout-whispered to me. I didn't even know it was possible.

"I know."

" _Exactly_! This could be our chance to... to check things out! There's bound to be some good info down there!"

After saying that, she left me where she dragged me to and returned back to the waiting scientist.

"We're on the job!"

She proudly declared to the scientist, causing his face to light up in delighted gratitude.

Well, looks like we're doing this, then. Never in my life did I thought I'd be trying to stop a robot revolution.

I'm the _leader_ , damn it! Let me call the shots!

"T-thank you so much! If what you said is true, terminating the Reol should stop the haywire synths! Good luck, Little Wing!"

"Leave it to us! Let's go, guys!"

She said before running off. Well, she's certainly enthusiastic about this.

That's good if she didn't just accept a bunch of extra work that might get us into trouble.

I put my face in my palm, feeling a small headache forming. Red saw this and gave me her trademark smirk.

"Your hands must be _so_ full because of that girl, huh?"

"Tell me about it."

 **ooo000ooo**

 **III**

 **ooo000ooo**

"So, this is where they seek to delve into the secrets of subspace..."

Mika pondered out loud, as I assume her to be examining the area. She didn't get a chance to do so earlier, because things got hectic, real fast.

"Mika, wait. Can you be careful about when you choose to show up? I don't want other people, _especially_ Red, getting the wrong idea."

"Don't you mean the _right_ idea?"

"Shut up, you."

Mika chuckled at our little exchange, brandishing that radiant motherly smile that always puts us at ease.

Fortunately for us, Red doesn't seem to be hearing us. Or if she did, she's ignoring us. A wise decision, of course.

"Of course, absolutely."

"Right, thanks."

After thanking Mika with a smile, Emilia turned her attention back to me, the serious look on her face returning.

"Okay, moral dilemma. We could destroy the subspace generator now and solve this problem once and for all."

"... ya think?"

"No, I don't think! I mean, I _do_ but... I know we can't do that."

"You don't say."

We could probably pull it off. In fact, if we leave the synths to their own business, they'd probably destroy the generator on their own.

But if we destroy them ourselves, not only would we make enemies out of the entire system, Kraz would positively, absolutely be SEETHING.

So, no.

"Still, it's hard to hold back when the solution is staring us right in the face."

Emilia lightly complained, looking like she's actually thinking of doing it.

If she declares she will, I'll smack her upside the head.

Mika chose that moment to reappear, looking like she has something important to share.

"Do not be overly anxious. There are immeasurable subspaces in the universe. The chances that the one they create here will reach Maghara, where the Ancients reside, are _infinitesmally_ small."

Juicy info right there, folks.

I don't know why she waited so long to tell us. She was sharing a body with Emilia, didn't she sense all the destructive thoughts my partner was generating?

"Really? Oh. Okay. Guess we can leave it be, then."

"... _amazing_."

This kid just might be the one to make me lose all my hair.

"Of course, should all the keys be brought together, that would be a different matter entirely.

Hey, hey, hey, what now?

Keys? What keys?

"Huh? What keys?"

Well, we're on the same wavelength, it seems.

Before I could comment on that, and before Mika could answer, Red stopped walking and sighed.

"Look, I can tolerate you whispering sweet nothings to each other but... _who the heck are you talking to?_ "

Ah. I guessed she'd catch on eventually. Great. Now she thinks we're crazy.

Oh well.

"I, uh... Um. Wait, what sweet nothings?!"

"Forget it, Emilia. Sorry, Red."

"Whatever. Hurry up or I'll leave you behind!"

Dragging the grumbling Emilia, we trudged on forward.

We didn't walk long before several fly-like drones interrupted us and promptly began firing _lasers_ at us.

Yes, this is my life now.

I rolled out of the way, summoned my handgun and unleashed a few rounds.

The shots hit some of the drones, dropping them like... well, _flies_.

I got out of the way again as the remaining ones fired lasers at me.

" **[Foie]**!"

Several fireballs shot from Emilia's rod, destroying more drones than I did.

" **[Barta]**!"

The remaining drones were frozen solid by the blasts of ice, stopping them in midair.

Before they could fall down, Red swooped in and slashed all of them in two with blinding speed.

Red jumped away as the drones exploded, the smoke dissipating quickly.

"Well, that was a cinch. Wanna bet who destroys more drones?"

"Oh, it's o-"

" _Forget it_. Let's keep going."

Red just shrugged while Emilia pouted as we continued to walk.

Before long, we came across some stairs that led down to a pool of water.

There were no other ways through, and I can spot another stairway leading down to it across the water.

What, are we supposed to _swim_?

"Any ideas, guys?"

Emilia asked as she examined the pool.

"... wanna try swimming?"

"No! Besides, the water might be electrified or something..."

Well, that's certainly a possibility.

So let's rule that one out, then.

"Hey! There's a button over here! Let's press it!"

Wait, _stop_!

 **Beep**

 _Goddamnit_ , Red!

To our surprise, the water began freezing over at a rapid rate. Soon enough, the pool was solid enough to walk on.

I guess that works.

"See? Nothing bad-"

A loud machinery starting up from behind us echoed loudly.

I looked back, and I saw a machine that looks like the sucker of a giant vacuum cleaner that wasn't there before. In front of it were two rods generating purple electricity.

And if that wasn't enough, behind the electricity was row of spikes.

And _then_ it started moving towards us.

"... happened."

"W-w-what?!"

" _Run_!"

We jumped down the stairs and landed on the slippery ice. I'd have fallen down if I wasn't so determined not to get caught by that machine of death.

" _Oof_!"

I guess Emilia didn't share my determination.

"What the heck are you doing, bolthead?!"

"W-waahh!"

 _Idiot_!

I grabbed her hand as she stood up, looking just about to cry.

I feel like crying too, honestly. The machine was steadily catching up to us.

We ran through to frozen pool, the pure adrenaline rush and survival instincts enabling us to avoid slipping, so far.

Even then, the machine was treading through the ice like it was solid ground. And worse, the machine spanned the entire width of the pool so there was no getting around it without being electrocuted and consequently shredded.

"I have an idea!"

Red exclaimed as she summoned a pair of twin sabers.

But instead of the usual beam swords, they were solid metal.

She raised them up and brought them down on both sides, the slashes impacting the ice and propelling her forward at an incredible speed as she slid.

" _Woooooaahhhhh_!"

"What the _hell_ , Red?!"

It was an incredible miracle that she didn't fall on her face and erased it.

"R-Red's ice skating! That's actually pretty cool!"

Emilia complimented as we ran. Yeah, it was pretty cool and all but what about us?!

Wait, was that a pun...?

As Red reached the stairs, she quickly ran up and started examining the platform.

"Hey! Can you make it if you jump?!"

Probably not. I could possibly make it but Emilia sure as hell can't. And definitely not if I carry her.

But the shredder was now only a few meters behind us. And I don't feel confident in pulling the same stunt Red did with Emilia in tow.

"Ahhhh! Kara, we're gonna _dieeee_!"

Ah, to hell with it!

I brought up Emilia in a princess carry and turned towards Red.

"K-Kara?!"

"Hit it!"

Red nodded and started activating the mechanism.

While I still had solid footing, I put all my strength in my legs and jumped.

The ice cracked as it started melting, stopping the machine in its tracks.

I expected to land a short distance away, pray that the water was not electrified and swim to safety.

What I did not expect, however, was to jump the entire distance to the platform.

As we landed beside Red, I noticed her shocked expression. Great, because I'm willing to bet I had the same look on my face.

The machine sunk like a rock as the ice fully melted, bringing an end to that monstrosity.

"W-what the hell?! Did you just _fly_?!"

"N-no, I jumped and fell in style."

Well, let's just be glad to be alive.

I set Emilia down, who was now staring at my face like I had grown a third eye.

"K-Kara, your eyes! They're _glowing_ again!"

W-what?

I hurried over to a reflective part of the lab walls and caught, for a second, my eyes glowing bright red before quickly reverting to normal.

"Okay, what was that?"

"To be honest, I have no idea either."

I answered Red, who now has her arms crossed and looking at me critically.

She didn't get a chance to interrogate further, however, as two large robot golems crashed down in front of us, beeping loudly.

"Grinna Betes!"

Emilia loudly called out in surprise, pointing at the golems.

As if to respond to her, one of the golems aimed its gun-like arms at us and started whirring.

I would have face-palmed if we weren't avoiding the barrage of lasers that followed.

No rest for the wicked, it seems. I'm beginning to hate this crazy place more and more with each passing second.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **IV**

 **ooo000ooo**

" **[Barta]**!"

The blast of cold hit the spiderbot, stopping it in its tracks.

I ran forward and jumped above it, using my saber to slash it from above.

As I landed behind it, sparks flew from its body before it finally shorted out and laid limp on the floor.

 _Finally_.

"Whew... That's _gotta_ be the last of them...!"

I hope so, Emilia. I really really do. I don't think I can stomach another suicidal robot.

Yes, _suicidal_. These human-sized buggers scuttle around the place, their main bodies sans the leg rotating like a _retarded little shit_.

They then attempt to pin down a target and promptly _explode_.

Imagine the blast, pun intended, that we had trying to avoid and destroy these things.

Well, Red was, get this, _laughing_ the entire time. At least she enjoyed herself, I guess.

We spent a few seconds catching our breath, amidst the sea of wrecked synth parts. Flybots, Grinna Betes, Suicidebots.

We must have destroyed hundreds of 'em by now and we were getting righteously sick of it. Where _is_ that goddammned Reol Badia?!

"Hey, a door. Let's check it out."

Red informed us as she was inspecting a door we haven't been to yet.

One thing I learned about Red during this mission was that she was a highly curious individual, inspecting everything like the button before and this door.

I get curiosity, sometimes I get curious too, but I wish she'd be more careful.

The doors slid open as Red attempted to enter. Thankfully, there doesn't seem to be any traps this time.

Me and Emilia followed her into the silent hallway, the still blaring alarm notwithstanding.

"Well, this has certainly been an entertaining trip..."

Red pondered out loud as we walked. Well, entertaining would be one way to put it, I guess. Although personally, I'd use _retarded_ , instead.

Emilia doesn't seem impressed, though, judging by the scowl on her face.

"Speak for yourself, you crazy idiot. How many times have you gotten all of us _killed_?"

"Ah, stop complaining, ya baby. It's good exercise, you know?"

" _Exercise_?!"

"Emilia."

"Urgh...! _Fine_..."

This caused a chuckle to escape from Red, as Emilia started pouting and grumbling incoherent nonsense.

It's amazing how my words have such am effect on these two. With Emilia, she follows my suggestions and orders. With Red, my clapbacks can keep her in line.

I don't know how it happened but I basically became these two's guardian of sorts. Their Little Wing guardian. Har.

Feels like it was just yesterday when I only had one problem child to worry about. Oh wait, it was.

I sighed as we entered another door that led out of the corridor. This time, we found ourselves inside a huge dome shaped room filled with bright lights and no other exit in sight.

This must be the testing room. But where's the Reol?

I didn't need to ask further, though, as a loud mechanical whirring noise assaulted our ears.

"W-what's that noise?!"

Don't add to it, you noisy girl!

"Hey guys, something's coming! Better keep sharp!"

Red warned as she summoned her double saber. Her warnings were proven correct as something big fell down in the middle of the room.

And I do mean _big_. We were like rats compared to it.

The Reol Badia crashed down loudly but lightly, its four tentacle-like legs supporting its giant saucer-shaped body very well.

Several guns and cannons activated along its body, topped off by a glowing laser cannon on its bottom's center.

My reaction?

"It's big, huh?"

"Big?! It's HUGE! How the _heck_ are we supposed to take THAT down?!"

"I dunno, pull out the power plug, maybe?"

"Or flip the off switch. Think it has a remote?"

"Guys! _Not_ helping!"

You _think_?

We jumped out of the way as a cloud of lasers and energy bullets rained down on our former general area, obliterating the ground.

Well, I guess the plan for now is to not get hit.

"Seriously, what's the plan?!"

"Go for the legs! We gotta take out its support!"

Red answered Emilia's question as we dodged yet another round of bullets.

She has a point. A very good point. The legs were the only thing keeping the Reol standing. If we take those out, we'll have a much easier time.

"Focus fire on one leg! Let's go!"

I shouted out as I summoned my saber. My handgun isn't gonna do jack yet.

Red started off our assault by dashing towards one leg and slashing it, sliding past it as it attempted to crush her.

" **[Rabarta]**!"

The cold explosion hit the leg head-on, freezing it in place.

I unleashed a quick three slash combo on the leg before jumping away. I don't want any part of that bullet hell.

" **[Tornado Dance]**!"

Red tore through the air, striking the leg before sliding off to the side as sparks flew from the spot she hit.

Perfect. It's working.

The downside to that is the ice encasing it was destroyed, allowing it freedom of movement again.

The upside is that our attacks left a hole in its leg.

I summoned my handgun and began charging a shot as I ran towards it, the constant barrage of lasers not allowing us a single moment of rest.

"Red, I need a distraction!"

"On it!"

Red charged at the other leg this time, slicing and dicing as she danced gracefully, not a single shot hitting her.

I started aiming the nozzle of my gun at the hole, the Reol Badia focusing its fire on Red.

"Emilia, slow it down!"

"Right-o! **[Barta]**!"

Emilia fired off a particularly large gust of ice, hitting the leg and dulling its movement.

I released the shot, most of it passing through the hole Red made.

A series of mini-explosions followed as the leg gave way, bringing along the entire part of the Reol it supported to the ground.

"Haha, yeah! Nice shot, Kara!"

"Three more to go! Don't get cocky just yet!"

I warned my overjoyed partner. True, there's a certain satisfaction you get from causing something as big as the Reol to crash down.

I guess we all have to curb our destructive tendencies sometimes.

I started approaching the leg Red was attacking earlier as Emilia moved to get a better spot to cast Techs.

But Red was nowhere to be seen.

" **[Zonde]**!"

The bolt of lightning hit the leg square on, the electricity causing it to lock up.

Photon Art Time.

" **[Infinite Storm]**!"

One slash, two slashes, three slashes. The concentrated attack destroying the metal armor slowly but surely.

"Kara, lasers!"

I moved out of the way as four laser beams burned my earlier spot, Emilia dodging her own lasers.

Really, today's been nothing but lasers.

One by one, though, the lasers started disappearing. And when I turned to look at the giant behemoth, I found out why.

"Is that...? _Red_! You crazy little...!"

"Keep distracting it! I'll take out all its guns!"

She replied as she took out the final laser cannon from atop the Reol, giving me and Emilia some relief.

Red must have climbed through the broken leg while we assaulted the other one. What a daredevil.

I raised my handgun and fired another charged shot at the second leg. A large chunk of it got blasted off as it fell down, totalling half of the giant synth brought down.

Red seemed to be hanging tough up there, evidenced by her continuing to disable the mounted guns.

"Take that, giant spiderbot! Two left!"

Emilia cheered from behind me. I honestly don't know why she feels the need to. It's not like it can hear nor understand her.

We were stopped in our tracks, though, by a bright blue light.

A mechanism rose up from atop the Reol and glowed bright, the cannon below the Reol also intensifying in light.

Ah, shit. The wave gun's finished charging.

"Run for it!"

"W-wait, hey!"

I grabbed Emilia and ran as the Reol fired its strongest laser. All I can say is that the laser can envelop our whole body and leave nothing behind.

So yeah, run away.

We did just that, but the Reol used its two remaining legs to rotate itself, causing the laser to scan the circular room.

Right now, me and Emilia were running from a literal advancing wall of death.

"R-Red, do somethiiinnnggg!"

"Hang on!"

I could see Red starting to panic as she started attacking the glowing mechanism at center of the Reol's top.

Meanwhile, the laser was gaining ground on us, _fast_ , and my legs are just about ready to give way.

"Red, hurry up!"

"Reeeddd! This time, we really are gonna die! Aaaahhhh!"

"Stop yelling! Focus your energy on running!"

I can tell Emilia's running on fumes by this point. Whatever Red's doing, she better do it fast.

Thankfully, what she said next was like music to my ears.

" **[Spiral Dance]**!"

I could hear loud slashing and explosions as I felt the laser slowly die down.

It took a while, but finally, the Reol's last weapon has been disabled.

The laser cannon exploded after that, leaving a big gaping hole on the Reol's underbelly.

"Emilia, finish it!"

Emilia nodded as we stopped running, lightening her grip on her rod as she started casting with her remaining energy.

" **[Rafoie]**!"

What followed must have been the longest series of explosions I've ever seen.

The Reol fizzled and shorted out as its systems fried themselves one after another.

Soon, the remaining legs gave way as the giant saucer crashed loudly on the ground, the lights dotting it vanishing one after another.

And finally, _finally_ , FINALLY, the alarms stopped blaring.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **V**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Heeey! You guys still alive there?!"

"Haa, haa, I don't know... Are we alive, Kara...?"

"Yeah... I guess so..."

I breathed out a giant sigh of relief as I fell down on my behind, my legs turning into jelly as soon as the adrenaline wore off.

Emilia did rougly the same, except instead of sitting down, she slowly plopped down face-first on the cold hard ground.

Don't blame me if you get sick.

"I can't believe we did it..."

Emilia mumbled in a muffled tone, not even bothering to lift her face from the floor.

Red chuckled as she started sitting down, having finished jogging towards us.

Where was she during the explosion, I wonder? For a second, I feared she was blown up too but I guess she's too smart for that.

"How'd you avoid the explosion, Red?"

"Hmm? I leapt away as soon as Emilia started chanting. Speaking of Emilia, I'm surprised you were able to pull your own weight, bolthead."

"Keep calling me bolthead and I'll pull _your_ weight...!"

Stop making this weird, please. This day's already crazy enough as is.

That aside, Emilia really did contribute. She dealt the final blow, after all. And she provided great support fire.

Surprising as it may be, she's really improving herself.

Red just shrugged and laughed, as glad as I am that this is all over with. Emilia raised her head up and I was afraid she'd start another argument.

But she just laughed along. I never thought I'd see the day these two would share a laugh. It's enough to bring a smile to my face.

Great, now I sound like a parent with two daughters who don't get along. Whatever.

"Looks like you got your grove back, Emilia."

I complimented as she was wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes. She just looked back at me blankly in surprise.

"Really? You think so?"

"Yep. Real groovy."

She smiled warmly at my response, her cheeks heating up slightly because of the praise.

She must not be used to those.

"Thanks. It's nice to hear that from you, you know? But don't worry, I know I still have a _long_ way to go."

She looked away with a far-off expression, but still with a smile on her face.

It's good that she knows she's still far from 100% combat ready on her own.

I spent a second thinking whether or not I was feeling proud of her. Heh, I guess I am.

I just wish we wouldn't have a repeat of the De Ragan incident.

"Hm? Hey, someone's coming."

Red alerted us as she stood up, looking at the direction behind me and Emilia.

I stood up as well and offered a hand to Emilia, helping her stand up. The mystery person completed his approach.

"You're all from Little Wing, right? I'd like to thank you all personally!"

He said in a deep but polite old voice, as I turned to get a full look on him.

Indeed, he was old, gray hair and beard and all. He was wearing elaborate black clothing and he was holding a walking sti- _an intricate black rod._

Wait, haven't I seen this guy on the news...? Ah, right, the show Chelsea was watching.

"We've confirmed that all the synthetics are back under control. You have done excellent work here."

"You are... Natsume Shu? Head of Inhelt Corp.?"

"That is correct. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

He answered with a slight bow. For a second, I pondered if I should bow as well but Red beat me to it by approaching the president.

"I'm a bit surprised the president came out to thank us in person..."

"You do understand that what we do here in this facility is of vital importance. We are the Gurhal system's last hope."

Last hope, huh? The thought of that sent shivers down my spine. A few hours ago, what this system's last hope may have very well been its _doom_.

And it can potentially _still_ be, if all the die align perfectly.

The president knew nothing about this, and I thought it best that it remain that way, for now, at least.

"If any harm had come to the subspace generator here, our subspace research might have been critically delayed. You've done us a tremendous service."

"R-really, it's okay! We were just doing our job."

Emilia sputtered out, looking quite embarassed.

I'm guessing she was getting overwhelmed by the constant praise showered by such a high-status person.

While she's soaking up all this praise, I hope she doesn't forget that she was basically plotting to destroy all of this earlier.

"I'm just shocked that you're doing the subspace research here, on company grounds. I would've guessed you'd have picked a more, well, remote location..."

She has a point. Subspace has been getting quite a bit of attention, lately. And to build in the same place they keep their synths and monsters...

"We have taken unprecedented security measures... which of course turned against us this time."

Yeah, it really did. Although my heart stopped when president saw the look on my face.

Imagine my relief when he just chuckled good naturedly.

"So, what exactly _is_ subspace?"

Red asked next. I guess she doesn't watch the news often as well. It's basically the same for all mercenaries.

No time to watch news and stuff like that. Just do what you're told. It's a living.

"We have been collecting artifacts gathered from Relic sites here. Artifacts from the time of the Ancients. To be frank, the ancients beat us to the secrets of subspace travel a long ago. Thus the secret of subspace is, as a practical matter, a study of the ancient civilization and it's technology."

History lesson, huh?

I'll try my best to remember this info, though. It's possible it can help us in the long run. Best to confirm it with Mika later.

"Um, are you sure it's okay to tell us this? Sounds kinda important..."

Emilia asked, looking quite uneasy. The president just chuckled at this and waved her concern off.

"Of course. All of this is public knowledge."

Really? Huh, how about that.

"Our people are strong, strong enough to repel the Seed invasion. But if we do not face our dwindling resource problem, our children will suffer for it."

The president explained as he paced around the room, looking away with a far-off expression.

True, though. We can fight monsters and synths all day long but if we deplete our resources while we're at it then what's the point?

It's the primary reason why destroying the subspace generator is a generally horrendous idea. I can see why they'd want to protect what they're doing here.

"Thanks for the update, pres. Hope your research goes well."

Red said, meaning nothing but good things. But it brought such a bone-chilling effect to me and Emilia.

Ignorance is bliss, I say.

"Well, time to move, guys. It was nice to meet you, Mr. President."

"Please, the pleasure is all mine. I wish you all luck in your future endeavors."

The president smiled as he bid us farewell.

For a split-second, I felt a dark feeling in the air, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

The feeling was also vaguely familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I scanned the room quickly but there was no one else besides us and the president.

All I could see was the concerned face of my partner.

"Kara? What's wrong?"

"Huh? It's... nothing. Come on, let's go."

 **ooo000ooo**

 **VI**

 **ooo000ooo**

As soon as the mercenaries from Little Wing were gone from the room, Natsume Shu, president of Inhelt, let out a relieved sigh.

He walked towards the remains of the Reol Badia, examining the damages it endured.

Those Little Wing mercenaries were young, but incredibly talented. It was a good thing they seemed to be on their side.

"That was... _far_ too close for comfort. We must make headway in our research... and _soon_."

Natsume Shu pondered aloud, not noticing the soft but firm footsteps heading his way.

"Father...? Who were those people?"

The mysterious person asked as he finished his approach, examining the obliterated giant synthetic as well.

Natsume Shu perked up a little when he heard his son's voice, a soft smile appearing on his bearded but regal visage.

"Ah, I did not know you were here, my son. Those were mercenaries from Little Wing. Security contractors we have need of, on occasion."

"Little Wing... I _see_..."

The mysterious person pondered, forming a smile of his own.

But the glimmer in his eyes was anything but.

" _Interesting_..."


	11. V2 Ch3: I'll Wrap It For You

**Hello there! Got caught up with games, you see. Anyway, review please! They make me happy.**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 2

Photon Art Online

 **Chapter 3**

 **I'll Wrap It For You**

 **ooo000ooo**

 **I**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Welcome Back!"

Chelsea cheerfully greeted us through the comm link, still wearing the same bright smile she always had.

We'd just returned to Clad 6 from Inhelt, our mission ending in a surprising success.

I had not expected Red and Emilia to cooperate as much as they did. Perhaps I didn't give them enough credit. _Perhaps_.

"Hm? Oh, it's just the Boobie Lady."

Red quietly commented, her voice had some sort of a tone that I wasn't sure of.

I could have sworn I heard a tongue-click but I wasn't certain of it.

She came with us on our ship so as to conserve ship fuel, but so far, she's been behaving herself.

Chelsea either didn't notice or ignored her, signified by her keeping her attention on me.

"Monsieur Boss awaits in his office. There is a request tres special for you and Madamoiselle Emilia!"

And with that, the transmission was cut. Great. Not unsettling at all.

"Urk! What did I do this time?"

My partner complain-asked as she approached the terminal, sweating.nervously a little.

"Welp. Looks like you're in trouble. Can't help you with that."

"Thanks for the concern, Red. Really."

"Anytime."

"Grr..."

Emilia just pinched the bridge of her nose as Red snickered.

What a troll.

"Ah, I'm tired. Well, seeya."

Red stretched her arms upwards, but there wasn't anything spectacular that followed. Unlike, say, if Chelsea were to do the same. Come to think of it, it must have been what annoyed her earlier.

Heh, a seventeen year old redhead mercenary with growth issues.

Red didn't seem to notice my kind thoughts, as she made her way over to the transporter.

"You're not coming?"

"Huh? The request was only for you and Emilia, right? I'd really like to join you but I'd _hate_ to intrude."

"... screw off, kid."

"Heh. Later."

Shockingly, she didn't seem affected by my jab. Whatever, it was a weak one anyway.

A short whir and a small flash later, Red was gone, what she'll be doing I'm not really interested in.

And with my amazing luck, we're bound to run into her again soooner or later. Oh well.

"The boss wants to see us... I wonder what we did?"

"Why do you automically assume the worst? Maybe we did something good, for a change."

"I told you before, didn't I? When he calls me in, it's usually not for a back-pat."

"Got me there... Well, best not make him wait. C'mon."

With a reluctant sigh, Emilia followed me into the transporter, and in the blink of an eye, we were back in Little Wing.

Wasting no time, we made our way directly to the office, which was busier than usual. Strange.

I could easily see Kraz at the back, watching his usual shows. And wait, is he... _smiling_?

Not the smile he has when he's watching his gardening shows, either. Seems like he's genuinely in a good mood right now.

Definitely weird.

"Ah, it's the little kitty and her guard dog!"

What.

Emilia waved unenthusiastically, but still glad to see our green-haired receptionist.

"Hey, Chels..."

"Hm? You look like the child who has been called to the headmaster's office."

"Well, you're not far off with that... hahaha..."

"Ah! Do not worry. Monsieur Boss is in good spirits!"

Well, I guess that confirms my suspicions. Emilia still doesn't seem to be able to believe it, though.

"The day he's in a good mood is the day he fires me... Oh, whatever. Let's go, Kara. Later, Chelsea."

Chelsea only gave us a bright and encouraging smile as we left her table, before returning to her... receptionist duties, I guess.

In no time at all, we were in front of Kraz's desk. He doesn't seem to be noticing us at all. With Emilia looking dejected behind me, I guess I gotta get his attention.

"Hey, Boss."

Kraz gave off a grunt of recognition as he turned off the screen, further leaning back on his seat and planting his feet on the table.

Had to be seen to be believed, really.

"Ah, there ya are! Thought I'd hafta wait till later. Huh, Rose ain't here? Or was it Magenta? Eh, whatever."

Well, he's certainly cheery. I could practically sense Emilia' surprise at this.

She was still a bit timid, although she cleared her throat and emerged from behind me.

"Um... we finished the job at Inhelt..."

"Oh, did you ever! Just heard from them, y'know? Sounds like you were quite the team player, Emilia! Can you imagine my surprise at hearing the news?"

"No, not at all... I mean... wait, what? I was?"

"They singled you out as the one who figured out how to stop the rampaging synths. I'd say that's a job well done."

Well, as incompetent as those scientists were...

Nah, I'm gonna keep my mouth shut and let her have her moment. She seemed like she was still in the process of absorbing the praise.

From Kraz, of all people.

"M-me? Are you sure, Boss?"

"Kid, I've been in this business long enough to see plenty of mistaken damage claims. But I've never seen a mistaken gratitude."

"I-huh? R-really?"

"Really. So stick out yer chest! or what passes for yer chest... and be proud for a change!"

Wow. Boy, am I glad Red didn't join us.

I say that and yet I'm snickering. Emilia burned up fiercely.

"S-stop that, Kara! Boss, what the heck?!"

I guess she's not that confused enough to not process the harassme- _friendly joke._ This only made Kraz chuckle.

"See? Boss didn't call us here to yell at us."

"Yell at ya? Naw. Do your work like you're supposed to, you won't get any trouble from me. Simple concept."

With that, he dug his hand into his coat's pocket, seemingly fishing for something.

After a while, he pulled out two brown envelopes and hung it in our direction.

Emilia looked at them cautiously.

"Here. Got somethin' for ya."

"What's that...?"

"What's it look like? A bonus, of course."

What, really? Sweet!

Kraz nodded at me as I took my own, with Emilia slowly taking hers while blinking in random intervals.

"Good work."

"Thanks, Boss."

Kraz grinned as he put his hands behind his head, turning his screen back on.

"I'm serious, ya did a fine job. I expect the lot of you to kick back a bit. You deserve it."

Wow, I'm flattered, really. All I did was keep the problem children out of trouble.

Of course, most of the praise was probably for Emilia. Not that it's a bad thing.

I smiled at her, genuinely glad she's gotten a break, for once. And despite her dumbfounded state, she was able to return it.

All of a sudden, Kraz started cheering, startling the living daylights out of my partner.

"B-Boss?!"

"The client even slipped me a little extra for my overhead, y'know? That being my bar tab! Woohoo! Tonight I bathe in beer!"

What an absolute legend.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **II**

 **ooo000ooo**

The clinking sound of a cup being placed on top of a saucer reached my ears as I raised my own cup.

I took a small sip, tasting the sublime combination of sweetness and bitterness as it caressed my taste buds.

With a small gulp, I felt the hot drink burn a path through my throat, not enough to scald me but hot enough for me to _feel_ it.

With a satisfied breath, I returned my cup back to its saucer, the small amount of steam it emitted carrying the strong and fragrant aroma of good coffee.

Ah, coffee.

So bitter, yet so sweet, so creamy, so good. Just the way I like it. It heightens the senses and keeps drowsiness at bay. And most importantly, it just tastes so delicious. Truly an excellent drink.

I'd expect to find myself at the cafe for these very reasons.

What I did not expect, however, was getting dragged here for some 'celebratory coffee' by the person across the table, who took a sip of coffee and immediately had a scrunched up face due to the bitterness.

Despite this, her eyes remained closed, lowering her cup while her pinky finger was extended.

Yes, right now, I was having coffee with my partner, Emilia Percival.

"Ahh, it's nice to just hang back and drink good coffee, isn't it?"

"... you're _gagging_."

Ignoring my remark, she took another sip and immediately covered her mouth, her eyes watering.

It would have been fine if she took a more sensible drink like a milkshake or tea but no, she insisted on having what I was having.

And it wasn't even THAT strong.

"Ahem... Yep, good coffee. We should go for seconds."

"Please don't."

Fine by me, but if she throws up all over the place, I don't wanna be responsible for anything at all.

Again, we were drinking coffee.

"By the way, did you hear what the Boss said when he handed us our bonus earlier?"

"Tonight, I bathe in beer...!"

"No, no, no! Before that!"

Realizing she became the center of attention because of her outburst, she shrank back and took another sip.

Her face contorted into a pained expression, but still playing it cool. I resisted the urge to facepalm.

After a while, she turned her attention back to me.

"Um, about me doing a 'fine job'? He was congratulating me! _Me_!"

"Yep."

"Can you believe it?! If I'm not mistaken, he was actually congratulating me on a job well done!"

"Uh-huh."

"Are you even listening to me?! I got a compliment! From the boss! When has that ever happened?"

What, you'd rather he chew you out? Such a troublesome girl.

But I suppose I should just entertain her for now. As far as I remember, she's never been this happy before.

I'd be a jerk to put a damper on that now.

"'Grats."

"Thanks! Hee Hee! Guess that hard work paid off! And it's all thanks to you! It's making me all warm and fuzzy..."

She continued giggling at my direction with her eyes closed, using her hands to support her head as she rested her elbows atop the table.

I sipped on my coffee. And again. Savoring the flavor with each small gulp. I looked at Emilia.

She's still smiling at me, but I could have sworn her eye twitched for a split second.

"... don't worry about it."

"* _sigh_ *... well, better than nothing, I guess..."

"Hm?"

"O-oh, um, I still can't believe we got a bonus, y'know? So many shops, so little time! Haha..."

O-kay, weird.

Anyhow, I didn't get a chance to inquire further, as a loud but not annoying ding rang throughout the Sector.

Seconds later, Chelsea's voice sounded through the PA.

"Kara and Emilia, please report to the office! With haste, oui?"

Again? Ugh, it hasn't even been an _hour_!

Emilia just shrugged at my irritated expression. Oh, whatever, might as well.

I took one last sip of my coffee before standing up. Sucks to leave good coffee behind but what's a merc to do?

As soon as we exited the cafe, we were face-to-face with the almost-always-helmet-on Vasque.

I hope this doesn't become a pattern or anything.

"Hm? Hey, it's you two. Been a while."

"Huh? Who're you?"

Vasque had a second to look offended before shrugging it off. Heh. Must be getting used to this girl's antics.

"Name's Vasque. I'm a friend of your partner."

I don't exactly remember when we became friends but sure, whatever. If he wants to call himself my friend then I won't stop him.

"Ah, okay, nice to meet you..."

She replied, acting like she always does around strangers. Vasque didn't seem to mind Emilia's wary behavior so I guess it's alright.

After a while, she tugged on my sleeve.

"You two look like you have something to talk about... I'll go on ahead, okay?"

She said with a smile, before excusing herself and heading for the office.

Vasque and I watched her go for a while, before he brought his attention back to me.

"Looks like the kid's really taken to you. Sounds like she knows where she's headed, too."

"Ehh, how do you figure?"

"You can tell the difference just by looking at her. There's a sparkle in her eyes that wasn't there before."

Really?

I might just be really inattentive to detail but I don't see it.

Sure, she's improved a bit from when I met her in the Relic Site, even getting off her lazy behind and actually working.

But she's still that lazy, sigh-inducing, facepalm-causing problematic girl who's super smart one second, and in the next she'll say the stupidest things.

I don't know if it's a good thing or not, but I guess if she weren't those things, she wouldn't be Emilia Percival.

"I don't know what it is you did, but you did good."

"Err, thanks, I guess."

He patted me on the shoulder and continued on in his way, which was towards the cafe. Must have recently returned from a mission.

As for me, time to be on my way too. Good thing the office wasn't that far from the cafe.

Within a minute, I was in front of the Little Wing's office.

And so was Emilia.

"... I thought you'd go ahead?"

"Chelsea said Kara and Emilia, didn't she? So I waited for you. C'mon!"

I guess she has a point... but I have a feeling she waited for me just because she wanted to.

That or she didn't want to report to the office on her own. Either way, it's nice to be special, I suppose.

Leaving that matter aside, we stepped inside the office. And as the doors slid open, the first thing that came to our attention was...

"What...? _You_!"

The Kasch boy.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **III**

 **ooo000ooo**

I had no idea what to expect, really. This kid's been confined in the med room for so long, I forgot he was still here.

Of course, an intense glare could easily remind you of a person's existence.

"Hey, you're awake!"

The boy looked at her with a confused expression, before returning to glaring at us.

Oh, that's right, he kinda thought we were invading his village or something.

Which we didn't, of course.

"You...! Outsiders!"

"Hey, technically, _you're_ the outsider here."

I kindly informed the mistaken kid, a look of realization dawned upon his face, although he was still far from amiable.

So I was ready to summon my weapons at any time, and he looked like he was too. It was a stand-off.

"Hey, what's gotten into you tw-"

" _Idiot_!"

As soon as Emilia stepped forward, the Kasch boy looked just about ready to rush her.

Thankfully, he was unable to as a hand gently but firmly held him by the shoulder.

"Now, now, no need to fight. We are helping you, no? If we were enemies, we would not, no?"

The boy contemplated that for a few seconds, before letting down his guard and fully disengaging.

No longer hostile, he returned his focus back to us and started examining me and Emilia.

"No... I mean, yes. I think...? But they attacked me..."

"You attacked us, bud. We were defending ourselves."

"Ahh... sorry..."

He bowed slightly as he apologized. Chelsea smiled brightly at this. Well, not that she's ever not smiling brightly but still...

Beside me, Emilia looked confused as well, but after a while, she just shrugged and started approaching the pacified tribesboy.

"Are you okay? Not hurt or anything?"

"No. Your healers are very good."

"Ah, that's nice. My name's Emilia, by the way. What's yours?"

I know they technically met before but this is the first time I saw my partner act so friendly towards a stranger.

Perhaps it's due to her good mood but she looked quite wary around Vasque earlier.

In any case, the Kasch boy thought about it for a while before nodding at Emilia.

"Yut. Yut Jun Yunkers."

"Well, that's a... neat name."

Heh. I guess neat's one way to put it...

I'll just owe it to the the Kasch's naming sense, I guess.

Setting that aside, the Kasch boy, Yut, doesn't seem to be an unpleasant person. He might just be cautious, though.

The kid's tall, that I'll say. From the looks of it, he can't be older than 16. It's either that or the Kasch has some technique that makes them look young.

The former seems much more sensible.

"So, you hungry, Yut?"

"A little... yes."

Right on cue, his stomach started grumbling. Hey, if I was confined for that long, I'd be starving too.

Upon hearing Yut's answer, Emilia smiled brightly and clapped her hands once.

"Then let's hit the cafe for something tasty! I'm in a particularly good mood today, so you're in luck! It's on me!"

"Something tasty... yes, I would like that!"

"Then let's go!"

Emilia cheerfully grabbed Yut's arm and led him towards the office's exit, and into the cafe.

"Madamoiselle Emilia seems very excited. I must ask, puor quoi?"

"Oh, Kraz complimented her. And gave her a bonus."

"Vraiment?! It is true?! Monsieur Boss praising Emilia... Alors! What is this world coming to?"

Wow, I didn't know it'd be that much of a surprise.

Although judging by the information I have on her past experiences with work here, I guess I should have probably known.

Chelsea smiled happily after getting over her shock.

"Perhaps I should thank you, no? Emilia has never been this cheerful before you came along! Merci, oui!"

Still feels weird being thanked for something I didn't technically do.

Really, all I did was die, right?

Morbid, I know. But the knowledge that I died saving her, and the impending Ancients-pocalypse is what motivated her to get up and get things done...

Again, being thanked for it feels really weird.

I didn't wanna be rude, though, so I managed a quick nod and smile as a reply.

"... I better check on them. They might cause trouble, somehow."

"Ah, oui. See you later, Monsieur Kara!"

Don't... don't call me Monsieur, please...

I made my way back to the cafe, and I instantly spotted Emilia smiling happily as she watched Yut eat... no, _gobble_ what seemed to be pudding.

And judging by the delighted look on his face, looks like he's enjoying it. That's good because on their table was a few more plates of the stuff.

Emilia's not holding back, is she?

"Oh this IS good! _Very_ good! Emilia, what is this?!"

"Yummy, right? This place serves the BEST pudding."

"All of this food... I've never eaten so much in my life!"

I didn't know it was possible to eat and drool at the same time but Yut just proved me wrong.

"Glad you like it! So eat up as much as you like! It's the least we can do for you."

"We?"

I asked as down across them, not bothering to get anything for myself.

Emilia noticed my arrival, although Yut just kept on eating without a single care in the world.

"You bashed him with your shield, remember?"

"... right."

That's right, I did. Well, I had to end the fight quickly. He was severely overexerting himself, fighting four opponents at once.

Good thing he doesn't seem to be the grudge-holding type.

Yut lightly slammed his spoon onto the plate, which was sparkly clean from any pudding residue.

He then looked seriously at Emilia.

"... you're okay, Emilia."

Yut said so with a small smile, before grabbing another serving of pudding and resumed eating.

Well, looks like someone just earned a tribesboy's trust. A tribesboy who was now currently stuffing his face with pudding.

I knew she was destined for great things.

"Hmm, now I feel like I'm bribing you somehow... Hey, why didn't I think of that before?! Hang on a second, Yut. I'll be right back."

Ignore me, will ya?

No use, she was already out of the room.

Yut didn't seem to notice as he continued slurping his pudding. After a while, he did finish and noticed Emilia's absence.

He noticed _my_ presence, though, and stared at me for a while. Not a hostile one, but still unsettling.

He finally spoke, after a while.

"... your name. What is it?"

"Kara Draken. I'm Emilia's partner."

He nodded at my answer, before grabbing yet another pudding. What an amazing appetite.

"Back! Heh, heh. Those shops never knew what hit 'em!"

Emilia proudly declared as she dumped a large amount of boxes, bags and... stuffed animals? on the vacant seats of our table.

There also seemed to be two of each item. Wow, she's really going all out. If she runs out later, I'm not lending her any.

"Um, Emilia? Why's there two of everything?"

Yut asked as he examined the stuff Emilia brought, taking a break from his genocide of puddings.

"I got one thing for me, and one for other people. This handkerchief's for Chelsea! She's always giving me stuff, I figured it was time to return the favour!"

"And the large... thing? Who's that for?"

He asked as he pointed at one of the stuffed animals. Now that I take a closer look, it seems they're Kakwanes, frog like creatures that are universally seen as cute.

Of course, as with most creatures, they aren't harmless. That's why people stick to stuffed animals.

Emilia hesitated for a while, a very faint tinge of red on her cheeks. Whatever she's planning on doing with that, she must be very embarrassed about it.

After a while, she picked up the Kakwane doll...

And handed it to me.

"Err... For you!"

"For me...? A stuffed animal...?"

"Yeah, a stuffed animal. Just take it, okay? Doesn't everybody want one? And it's a customary way of giving thanks!"

"Uh... I see..."

Well, not awkward at all. No sirree. Regardless of that, though, I still took it from her outstretched hands.

"I'm sure your room could use some sprucing up. You could put it there! And um... uh."

"Okay, okay, I get it. Thank you, Emilia."

She blinked blankly at me for a while after that, a very happy smile forming on her face.

"I-it's nothing. Besides, I, uh, owe you, remember? I mean... thanks."

This day's been nothing but thanking me, it appears. I don't hate attention but I'm not used to too much of it.

And I'm not even sure what she owes me for or what she's even thanking me for.

"Huh? Emilia? Nothing for me?"

"What? Oh, come on! I fed you enough pudding to choke a _horse_!"

She complained, but she's chuckling. Judging by the look on her face, she seems really happy.

I took another look at the Kakwane doll. It really did look pretty cute, I guess.

"So, who's that one for?"

Yut pointed at a small purple box behind Emilia. She cheerfully grabbed it and showed it to us.

"This? This is for-"

"Announcing to all Little Wings! We have an emergency! An armed group has penetrated a block under our jurisdiction on Clad 6! We are sealing off the affected block and all stores within to minimize damages."

Emilia's answer was drowned out and subsequently interrupted by the alarms spontaneously blaring, and the room flashing red.

And not a second later, sounds of guns firing came from outside the cafe, eliciting some startled screams and stampedes.

"What?! That sounded like gunshots coming from the hall!"

Emilia shouted out in surprise, and before me or Yut could stop her, she started running off towards the cafe's exit.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **IV**

 **ooo000ooo**

The instant the cafe's doors slid open, I immediately found three guns pointed at my face.

Great, _just_ great.

I raised my hands up, so as to not get blasted. And I'm not gonna take any chances with summoning my weapons.

Now all I've gotta do is wait for...

"Hey! Outsiders! Leave him alone!"

... an opportunity.

As soon as the intruders turned their heads ever so slightly, I dropped down and did a sweeping kick, tripping two of them.

I summoned my saber quickly and set them to stun, quickly incapacitating the remaining one.

As the intruder fell down, the others started to stand back up.

But they weren't even able to aim their guns at me again before a yellow figure quickly barreled into them.

Yut twisted his spear in a circular fashion, the non-bladed side knocking the intruders towards the walls, putting them into a painful sleep.

Seeing as the immediate threat was taken care of, I started running towards the cafe's exit, Yut quietly but hastily following me.

And what welcomed my sight wasn't anything I expected.

The moment I exited the cafe, a strong punch roughly impacted Kraz's jaw, instantly downing him.

"Paycheck skimming _garbage_."

The person who punched the Boss spat out, her long dark green hair returning to rest behind her.

To the side, I could see three more knocked-out intruders. I assume this green-haired lady was the one responsible.

And right behind her was...

"You _idiot_...!"

"H-hey, ow! I'm sorry! S-stop pinching my cheek, it hurts!"

I released her after a while, causing her to turn her back to me and mumble incoherently, nursing her cheek.

Right about now, Kraz started getting up, nursing his own cheek, or better yet, jaw.

"What's the big idea?!"

"Keep your mouth shut! What time of day do you think it is? Your breath is making me wish I'd brought a hazmat suit."

I could only stare blankly as the woman spoke with such venom in her voice.

Well, I guess that just happened. A lady I don't know just up and sucker punches my boss and then proceeds to word-attack his entire lineage.

Nice.

"You're responsible for the security here, and you let these intruders run wild?!"

"Intruders? I figured it was a bar fight."

"Why would I be involved in a bar fight?!"

Kraz didn't answer, instead examining the out cold intruders while scratching his beard.

"There's more in the cafe, boss."

Kraz looked at me for a while as I spoke before nodding once. He then turned back to the unconscious ones near us.

After a while, he finally spoke again.

"Intruders, eh? Hrm... Armed, too. Some kind of terrorist wannabes, maybe?"

It was certainly possible. In fact, it might be just that. But Clad 6's security isn't so pathetic that a group of six terrorist fanboys can breach in and cause a ruckus.

Aye, trouble again. Speaking of trouble, I do wonder where Red went. She can't have slept this entire hubbub. I can't imagine her running away from a threat, either.

Emilia and Yut were just keeping quiet, however. Looks like this is quite the serious business, as it should be.

"We can discuss this later. Chelsea, mind rounding them up? Don't miss the ones at the cafe."

The green haired lady said through her communicator, receiving a chipper response from Chelsea.

Now that I take a closer look, she's got the typical Neumann's ears. Ehh, not that it's a big deal.

"As for you, Kraz, I think it's time we had a nice long chat. I've got quite a few jobs to talk with you about."

"Why is it always about work with you? Doesn't anything else interest you at all?"

"Better than sitting around staring at the bottom of empty beer mugs all morning."

Well, as entertaining as this little exchange is, I'd better leave them alone.

And besides, I still wasn't done with my idiot partner.

"You alright over there?"

"You almost tore my cheek off! You think I'm okay?!"

Ah, sheesh. Screeching again. Well, I guess I should be glad she didn't get injured.

"Since you're still loud, I'd say you're fine."

"Tch. And here I thought giving you a gift would make you nicer... Wait... Gift... _Gift_!"

"What? What gift?"

"The thing I bought! It's gone! Help me find it! You too, Yut!"

"Okay!"

Yut eagerly answered as he started... sniffing out the gift. Yeah, I guess that's a thing now.

I don't understand why she brought the bag to a potential scuffle, though. You'd figure she'd leave it somewhere safe if it was so important.

Who was she gonna give it to, though?

"Hrm? What's this? Some kinda package? Ehh, looks like it's seen better days..."

Kraz said as he inspected the same thing we(they) were looking for, which was the purple bag Emilia bought.

She immediately perked up at this and smiled happily, turning to approach Kraz.

"Huh? This yours, Emilia?"

"A-actually, uh, I was gonna-"

"Huh, it isn't? Someone musta forgot to throw it out. Where's that trash can get to? Ah, there we are."

He said as he started examining the area for a trash can, not really listening at all.

Time to step in.

"Kraz, wait!"

"Hnn? Whazzat? Ya want me to throw it for ya?"

Welp.

Well, you can't say I didn't try. Looks like Emilia's not giving up, though.

"N-no, stop!"

"He shoots...! He scores! Don't litter, kiddos."

"Hey!"

Well... that went well. Kraz's shooting form was great though. He nailed that shot perfectly.

Ah, wait, Emilia.

She had a multitude of expressions written on her face once the bag hit the trash can as she glared at Kraz.

None of them were positive.

"Huh? Emilia, what's gotten into ya?"

"Jerk..."

"Eh? Wuzzat? If ya got somethin' to say, say it out loud. Yer competing with some serious ringin'"

"JERK!"

Kraz recoiled harshly from Emilia's outburst. She didn't mind, though, running past us all towards the transporter.

Within a few seconds, she was gone. Looks like Kraz has really done it this time.

... ah, I get it now. The gift was for him.

"What're ya trying to do, shout off my earlobes?!"

Wow, some people. How dense can this guy be? Even I picked up on it.

After that, Yut came running back towards us, holding the same purple bag Kraz threw out earlier.

Wait, did he just rummage through the trash...? ... ughck.

"Found it!"

"Found what? Hey, that's the trash I just threw out. Good job, jungle boy."

"Emilia's scent led me to it. This is what she was looking for!"

Yes, I guess I heard that right. This kid really did sniff out the item.

Sure, why not.

Although Kraz still doesn't seem to be getting it.

"What's all this about now?"

"Get a clue, Kraz? Better yet, I'll give you three."

The woman raised her fist up as she approached us, looking quite annoyed and yet... resigned?

Anyway, she raised one finger up as she resumed talking.

"The first would be that it's nicely wrapped. The second: Emilia would not tell you whose it was when you asked her. The third: she had a fit when you threw it out. If you can't figure it out with that, well, I'm afraid you're in the wrong business."

She raised one more finger for each point she made. And Kraz got increasingly more confused with each one.

He nodded before raising one hand up, looking like he realized something important.

"... mind repeating that?"

That's it, I'm done. Yut can handle it, seeing as he's approaching the boss as of now.

"This is yours."

"Wait, but you just said it was Emilia's! Har!"

"Emilia was looking for it, but it's yours. She may not have been able to tell you, but she might have wanted you to have it. And also, she looked so happy when she bought it."

Now that got Kraz into thinking, seeing as he didn't respond after that. Instead, he took the bag from Yut and started examining it.

With that little hurdle out of the way, the green-haired lady smiled and clapped her hands once to get our attention.

"Now that we got that into this numbskull's cranium, let's talk about work, shall we?"

She looked at me after that. I nodded attentively. Might be important, after all.

Though I'm a bit concerned about my partner. An angry Emilia doesn't bode well for Clad 6.

"You there. You're the new recruit, yeah? Great, you can come talk with us."

"Understood. But what about my partner?"

"It's alright. Although I'm a bit concerned about her myself. Poor child, having to put up with this _reject_."

She casually spoke out, pointing a thumb towards Kraz's reaction. He recoiled a bit from the insult.

Thankfully, we were able to reach a compromise due to Yut's intervention.

"Don't worry! I'll find her!"

"Now _there's_ a good sport! Great, you're on the case."

"Okay!"

Yut ran off, starting to sniff the air for what I presume to be Emilia's scent.

... but didn't she use the transporter?

Whatever, I'm not gonna go against it. It might be how this particular ability of the Kasch's works.

Probably.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **V**

 **ooo000ooo**

"So, since we'll be working together, I suppose I should introduce myself."

The green haired woman said as we reached the office's interior, with a face that meant **business**.

Kraz, on the other hand, looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. Namely, in his own words, bathing in beer.

"The name's Ursula Laurent. I'm the colony captain of Clad 6, and I run this Little Wing outfit."

"Wha? So Kraz isn't the boss?"

"Did you think the company would put someone as _reliable_ as him at the top?"

Well, she's got a point.

I just nodded as my response. The lady, Ursula, just smiled at me.

"Just think of me as the little angel on Kraz's shoulder. A little angel with a _mean_ whip."

"She's not Little Wing. She's with Skyclad, our parent company. Like the big annoying parent you just wish would kick the bucket."

"Until you start pulling your own weight, Kraz, the only thing I'll be kicking is your behind. Or maybe you'd like to explain why you chose to let armed intruders into a zone under your protection?"

Kraz recoiled harshly, yet again, at Ursula's clapback.

What is this...?

I can't help but feel that there's some history with these two.

A history of bloodshed.

I better not get too smart with this person.

With Kraz's commentary taken care of, Ursula turned her attention back to me. I managed to suppress a gulp.

"Tell me, new recruit, what do you think of a defence contractor that can't even keep his own house in order?"

"Tres _lame_."

"Hey."

"Heh. I'll take your 'tres' and raise you a 'totally'!"

She said back with a grin, while Kraz just sulked in the background.

Perhaps she has a fun side to her, after all.

"Although I thought he'd have threatened you to put in a good word for him or something..."

"That's it, I'm bleedin' _good_ now! Just give the knife another twist, why don't ya?!"

Oops, he got mad.

Well, Emilia, consider yourself avenged.

"Look, kid, you don't need to show any side to me at all. I know I ain't much of a role model, and I'm okay with that. But I'm less okay with those intruders. That ain't gonna happen again."

Nice to know, I guess.

Ursula looked contemplative for a moment, before nodding to herself before turning back to us.

"Well, that decides it. I'll be moving my operations here, to this office... as part of Little Wing."

"Hunh? What're you talking about?"

For a second there, I thought Kraz experience shock withdrawal. But I guess not.

He just went up to Ursula and started protesting.

"What about your duties as captain? Don't you have anything to do for Skyclad? Nothing? Man, I knew that was a racket."

"They can reach me here if they need me. Besides, my staff is quite capable. More than I can say for the team here."

More shade. Although that one was less funny because I'm kinda a part of the team too.

But when I think about it... Kraz, Emilia, Red...

Yeah, we kinda need a bit of a guiding hand.

"I need to keep a close watch on Little Wing, effective immediately. Thank you for your invaluable feedback, recruit."

"No problem, boss."

"Hey, I thought _I_ was your boss!"

With a smile, Ursula went on over to the CEO office, leaving me and Kraz on our own.

"Gah! Emilia shoutin' at me, Ursula settin' up shop... everything's comin' up roses."

And Kraz walked away with a grumble, leaving me in my lonesome.

Well, nothing more here for me to do. I started walking towards the office, but I was stopped by Chelsea.

Damn it.

"Ah! Your timing is ces't impeccable! Madamoiselle Emilia has been found! Such a good boy, Yut!"

"She's in our ship! It was hard for me to track her smell at first, but I found her!"

Ah, what? She's in the ship.

Great, looks like I'm gonna have to get it repaired soon.

Wait, our ship...?

Chelsea saw the confused expression on my face, and figured there was something she needed to explain.

She clapped her hands, and cheerfully announced.

"Ah, as of now, Yut is part of Little Wing! Felicitations!"

"Welcome to the te- Wait a second! He's not going back to his village?!"

"Non. in fact, we cannot even make contact with them. So great was the damage they sustained in the attack, yes? We thought it best to keep him safe with us until things settle down, you see..."

If Chelsea noticed my horrified expression and subsequent facepalm, then she either ignored me or paid no attention.

No, wait, I'm right in front of her, I'm pretty sure she noticed.

She's evil, I tell you.

"Monsieur Boss wants you to look out for Yut for a while, s'il vous plait, so we are putting him in your team for the moment. That is, look out for Yut and Emilia. Alors! How is the expression? You have your fingers full!"

"At this point, I'm gonna need a few more fingers..."

Again, Chelsea ignored me and just giggled as she returned to her work. I took a look at my new teammate.

"Emilia's throwing a lot of things in the ship. Aren't we gonna stop her?"

Oh, brother.

Ah, well, better stop Emilia before she renders the ship immobile.

Yut followed me as we got out of the office and into the ship's transporter.

And I had to get out of the way quickly as one of the non-stationary chairs came flying at me.

"I hate him! I hate him, I hate him, I hate him! Garbage?! I'll show him garbage!"

Just about what I expected.

Emilia was throwing whatever she can get her hands on, with a concerned Mika attempting to calm her down.

The keyword being attempting. Good thing I didn't leave any of my stuff here.

"Emilia, please, you must be calm. He meant you no ill will by his actions. It was merely poor timing, is all."

"Poor timing? He threw it way! Who throws away a gift?! What a creep. Slime. Pond scum! I can't believe I was so happy about a few words of praise! Gah!"

She threw a box of supplies she grabbed, the contents scrambling all over the floor.

I stepped over the spilt packages and made my way over to my fuming partner.

"You know, I'm not gonna clean all this up."

"Oh, it's _you_. How about coming in here instead of snooping around like that?"

"Working on that. Got a lot of stuff to step over, you see."

I thought she'd get more angry at my response but surprisingly, she only sighed.

She then rested her back on the ship's walls, slowly sliding down until she was sitting down.

I took a seat next to her.

"* _sigh_ , well, that kind of takes the wind out of my sails. And rips a big old hole in them. And sets fire to the ship."

"Uh, don't actually do that, okay? We kinda need this ship."

"Hmph. It's all because of those intruders."

No luck, not even a snicker.

Well, I'm no comedian so whatever.

"Ah, yes, now that you are both here, I wished to speak with you about them..."

Mika suddenly said, floating before us and having to look down to speak with us.

I briefly pondered whether or not she was able to sit.

"Huh? Oh yeah, that's right. Weren't you saying I was a target or something?"

"Yes. I sensed an observer. A presence not belonging to one of the intruders."

"Ah, I felt it too! A steady gaze, almost painful."

Yut suddenly cut in and said to Mika as he sat down on the ground in front of us.

Although I do wonder how he was able to sense that presence since he was in the cafe with me.

Mika just looked at Yut blankly, looking a bit surprised for some reason.

Huh, wait a second...

"You mean a feeling like you're being watched? Kind of a... hey, wait a second! Yut! You can hear Mika?!"

Emilia blurted out after a while.

There, that's what. Yut just responded to Mika as if he could see and hear her.

Last time I checked, it was only me and Emilia who had that ability! What the heck?!

"Mika? Who is Mika?"

Yut looked at us with a confused expression. For a second there, I thought it was all just a coincidence.

But he clearly looked at Mika earlier. I pointed at Mika to test it out.

"Ah, the lady. Yes, I can see her. So she is Mika."

Well, that about confirms it. Yut can see Mika.

Great, another nutjob.

"You can see her, too?! What's going on, Mika? I thought you said we were the only ones who could see you."

"In truth, I do not understand it myself. The one called Kraz and your friend Red could not see, me yet this boy clearly can."

Looks like Emilia's so shocked that the part about Red being our friend went over her head.

That aside, even Mika doesn't know why Yut can see her.

He kept examining her like she's someone he's familiar with.

"She looks like the Land-Mother."

"Land Mother?"

"The great Land-Mother, goddess of the Kasch. She resides within the Codex."

Upon mention of the Codex, Mika perked up immediately, and so did Emilia.

Great, I'm out of the loop again because of that memory sharing thing.

Although I do recall Mika mentioning that word once...

"The Codex? Where did you learn that word?"

"All Kasch know of the Codex. It was through the Land-Mother that we learned the art of the mirage blast."

Yut's answer got Mika thinking and looking quite questioning. To be honest, I have a lot of questions too so I might as well ask.

"Mika, you mentioned the Codex before. What is it?"

"The Codex is a high-density recording medium developed by the Ancients. I can only assume that one of the personalities contained within it awoke and proceeded to convert the Kasch."

"So basically, an AI...?"

"The Codex... that was the red notebook thing the guy in black was carrying, right?"

Emilia asked, presumably having seen what a Codex looks like due to the memory sharing.

At her question, Yut turned downtrodden all of a sudden, grasping the hem of his high collar.

"Yes. The Land-Mother was taken. I... wasn't strong enough. But then I sensed the Land-Mother again!"

"What, really? Here in Clad 6?"

"Beside us, when Emilia was attacked! Now, I sense nothing... But I'm sure the one who took the Codex was nearby during the attack!"

At Yut's answer, Emilia suddenly stood up, genuinely spooked out by the possibility of that guy creeping around here. Me and Yut stood up as well.

In all honesty, I was a little apprehensive about the fact too. He could easily wipe the floor with all of us.

"You mean the man in black was here, on this colony? Seriously?!"

"He looks pretty serious to me."

"B-but, Kara...!"

"I agree. If the boy can detect me, even without carrying a program, then it follows he would be able to sense the Codex."

Emilia shivered to herself, probably feeling like suddenly finding out that she dodged a bullet without knowing it.

And she was right to feel so. In our current state, we're no match for that guy. We have to get stronger.

"Looks like we have to up our game. Let's resume training tomorrow, Emilia."

"Ugh... sabers, again?"

"Yes! We must become stronger! I must become strong enough to win back our Codex, and the Land-Mother!"

Well he's certainly enthusiastic. It's almost rubbing off on me. Almost.

Emilia, on the other hand though, looks like she just wants to crash in her bed and stay there.

Well, looks like that debacle with Kraz earlier completely crushed all her motivation. Damn it, boss.

As I was silently cursing Kraz in my mind, I suddenly felt a bad feeling from the bottom of my soul. Red wasn't around, and it doesn't seem like Emilia's the cause.

All of a sudden, Yut turned towards me and for a second there, I felt like hiding in my room.

"You, Kara! You have defeated me before. That means you are strong!"

Oh, no. Please, no. Someone stop him, please.

It all came crashing down towards me a moment too late.

"You must train me! You must train me at once!"

No way in hell. Emilia's already enough trouble as is. I don't need another problem.

"Training? You want to become Kara's trainee too? Hmm... that's not a bad idea. Better than loafing around here and accidentally running into the boss."

Of all the times to be sensible, why now, you troublesome girl?!

Yut turned towards me with expectant eyes, clearly excited about the fact that I was already training someone.

In his eyes, I might be some great warrior trainer or something.

"You know, I think I'd rather take it easy a bit..."

"Why? Why?! We've rested enough! It's time to train! Time to get stronger!"

"You gotta admit, the kid's got spirit. You wouldn't want to let him down now, would you?"

Don't team up with him, traitorous partner!

Although saying that, there's this mischievous glint in Emilia's eyes. Seems like she's willing to put all that drama with the boss aside for now.

Or she just feels like messing with me. No, scratch that, that little smirk of hers all but confirms it.

Alright, that does it. You want training? Fine, I'll give you training.

"Okay, you win. Let's go right now for some _nice_ training!"

"Alright! Training time!"

"For some reason, I felt a cold shiver down my spine... take it easy on the kid, okay?"

"What're you saying? You're coming too."

"H-huh?!"

Before either of them could react more than they already have, I went towards the ship's control terminal.

Within moments, I managed a smirk as the ship accepted the coordinates and flew off.

Heh heh. _Training Time._


	12. V2 Ch4: A Lumia Foil

**Hi. Well, that sucked. Phone broke, dug up my old PSP, played Freedom Unite, got absorbed. Sorry. But writing phone's semi-fixed now, so I'm back.**

 **Unfortunately, school's been squeezing my time so updates are gonna be sporadic at best.**

 **This won't be discontinued, though. I have way too much fun when writing this.**

 **Leave a review! Tell me what you think!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 2

Photon Art Online

 **Chapter 4**

 **A Lumia Foil**

 **ooo000ooo**

 **I**

 **ooo000ooo**

The next day came by too quickly.

"So that's a subspace experiment? Pretty cool..."

Emilia absentmindedly commented as we watched the, in Kraz's words, "thingamajig", fly through the air and do some trippy stuff before vanishing into what I assume to be subspace.

I'm really no expert on these kinds of things. People are just gonna have to take my word for it that it's an impressive lightshow. It's probably a tad more complicated than that but whatever.

Of course, knowing that one of these subspaces contains the combined consciousness of a whole race of would-be bodysnatchers...

Nah, it's still pretty trippy. Emilia looked like she has the same idea, before suddenly calling out her Ancient tenant.

"Hey, Mika. Maha- Maga- Mahgr-"

"Maghara."

"Marg- Whatever. It's not suddenly gonna pop outta the sky, is it?"

"There are no signs of such an occurrence, currently. Maghara's presence is always heralded by a change in atmosphere. Also, while this test _appears_ to have been successful, it is still not ready for practical application."

Then it looks like I don't have anything to worry about right now. Seeing as the Ancients were the ones who perfected subspace travel, I'm willing to take Mika's word for it.

And so with her concern resolved, Emilia gave a quick thanks to the golden Ancient lady as she returned back to her dormancy.

"Well, I guess this job might not be so tough after all... We just gotta sit around here all day."

"Sounds like your type of job, then."

"Shut it, you."

It's probably a good thing Red isn't here with us for this mission. My partner's mood is already like this and we haven't even done anything remotely similar to work yet.

Not that I'm complaining, really, but this type of job gets boring, fast. I'm not worried for myself but my two teammates, on the other hand...

"Keep your guard up, Emilia! We Kasch say 'turn your head and fall on your face'. It means keep sharp!"

"Eh? Sounds more like something you did once rather than a saying, if you ask me."

Well, aren't they hitting it off quite nicely. Yeah, I guess they can find a way to entertain themselves.

A few more minutes passed, though, and Emilia, unsurprisingly, just won the grand prize for being the first one to get bored.

Destined for great things, I tell you.

"Augh... can't believe I'm spending all day at work today. Just my luck."

Any further complaints were interrupted, however, by her comms watch beeping.

And when she pressed the answer button, Kraz immediately appeared on the interface. Emilia quickly scowled upon seeing his face.

"Hey, you readin' this?"

"Unfortunately. What is it?"

"... Just listen, okay?"

With a huff, Emilia shoved her wrist over to me. Doesn't seem like she's up for a conversation with Kraz.

He looked really irritated at her response but he just sighed, clearly not in the mood to deal with my childish partner. He turned towards me.

"Guess you'll be the one to listen. Some creatures broke into the testing facilities. They're causing quite a grand ruckus."

"Huh? How'd they get in that easy? What's the security over there doing?"

"Damned if I know, but our team's the closest to the scene so it's up to you to deal with 'em. Think you can check it out?"

Before I could answer again, my problematic partner harshly cut in.

"Well, that's a weird way of asking! Whatever happened to 'Bah, get on it!'?"

Damn it, Emilia, this is a job!

To my surprise, though, Kraz didn't get annoyed or lash back. Emilia seemed as surprised as me.

"Look, this isn't some mop job. You'll be in real danger. You still up for it?"

What does he mean by 'real danger'? I'm pretty sure our previous outings contained real danger too, especially the Moatoob amd Inhelt missions.

But still, there was something in his tone that sounded like... concern?

Well, it doesn't matter. We're mercenaries, we do what we're told.

"We're on it, boss."

"Yeah, we- Hey! Aren't you supposed to talk these things over with your partner before just agreeing to everything?"

"What do you mean, 'everything'? It's a direct order from the boss. And besides, I'm the leader."

"Grr... Fine. We're the only ones available, anyway. We don't have a choice, do we?"

She's right on that point. But still, to think that this all started off as a simple job of standing by on guard duty all day while Inhelt does their thing with the subspace generator.

Though Ursula did say it was more than a test. Turns out all of Inhelt's sponsors will be present. You know, big PR event, very sensitive.

Maybe that's why it's not just us on security detail today. Turns out even the Guardians and the Armed Military Forces are here, along with some other civilian outfits.

Inhelt really isn't kidding around with this thing, it seems. And here I thought Little Wing was exclusively requested because of our exemplary work back at the labs.

Which brings me to another concern. How in the flying Emilia did those creatures break in? I don't think the Guardians or the AMF will mess up like that so easily. Must have been one of the other outfits.

Well, I guess it's up to us to clean up. Before we could go ahead and do our job though, Emilia just HAD to have one last petty jab at Kraz.

"But don't get the wrong idea, boss-hog! We're going 'cause we hafta! Not 'cause we owe you or anything, got it?!"

Petty Tsundere problem child strikes again.

Surprisingly though, Kraz didn't have any sarcastic remark to that. Instead, he looked more serious than I've ever seen him.

"Whatever gets the job done. Just let me say one thing."

"If it's a complaint, then don't bother!"

"... Don't get hurt in there, got it?"

Say what?

I took a second look at the Boss to clarify what I just heard, but he really did say it.

And it looks like my partner's just as stumped as I am.

"Huh?"

"I said don't get hurt! Are we clear?"

"Uh, yeah. We're clear."

"Good. Then get to it."

And with that, the transmission was over. Emilia was still staring at the comm device, though.

"Was that...? He wasn't just showing _concern_ for us, was he? Nah, couldn't be..."

"He was! I could feel it radiating off him!"

And Yut startled the both of us out of our befuddlement.

I had honestly forgotten that he was here, as amazing as that sounds.

Emilia, though, seemed like she was just now absorbing the oddball Kraz threw at us, trying to cover up a faintly growing smile with an annoyed scowl.

She was desperately failing, though. Heh. You aren't fooling anybody, Ms. Percival.

"W-what are you looking at me like that for?! There's no time to waste! Come on!"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

Yut quickly ran off after her without a care in the world, looking quite eager to fight some monsters.

I wonder how long it takes before those two gets lost...?

 **ooo000ooo**

 **II**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Ugh, darn it all! Why'd it hafta be so hard to find?! Where the heck is the Communion facility?!"

Emilia started complaining out loud, unsurprising really, after a solid ten minutes of running, looking, and dispatching the occasional monster.

Yut, on the other hand...

"Take this, monster!"

And the anguished cries of an exterminated monster echoed throughout the valley, yet again.

Gotta admit, it's kinda nice to have this kid along. He pretty much took care of every monster that dared attack us.

He's still probably gonna cause some problems in the future but at least he's pulling his own weight. Unlike _some_ people...

"What? Why're you looking at me like that? It's not my fault Yut's a little too eager to do our work for us!"

"Then just concentrate on finding the way! We don't exactly have all day, you know."

"What do you think I've been doing for the past hour?!"

"It's only been ten minutes. Stop exaggerating."

"Whatever!"

Of all the times to be difficult, why now? She'd been in such a good mood at the cafe yesterday... Damn it, Boss.

Oh well, back to the problem at hand.

"Stupid monsters attacking that stupid facility..."

"Emilia? Will there be a lot of people at this facility?"

Yut suddenly asked, seemingly inspecting the ground in front of us.

"Hm? I guess so? It is called the Communion so yeah, probably."

"Then I think I know which way it is! Look at all the footprints!"

Emilia and I followed where Yut was pointing at, and what entered our vision was...

The ground.

Huh. For a second there, I thought he was just messing around, but the way he was excitedly pointing at the dirt says he must have seen something.

But I obviously couldn't. And when I gave a questioning glance at Emilia, she looked just as confused.

"Footprints? Where? I don't see anything, Yut."

"Huh?! What're you talking about?! Look, look, they're _everywhere_! And they're all going the same way!"

I took a second look at where he was pointing but there really was nothing there.

But Yut looked like he was dead serious. Although... now that I took a second glance, I'm pretty sure we haven't been to where he was pointing to yet.

Well, can't hurt to try, I guess.

"I-is this one of those Kasch Mind Tricks?"

"Nevermind that, Emilia, we've wasted a lot of time already. Lead the way, Yut!"

"Follow the prints? Got it!"

And he was off.

It didn't take long for us to reach an unfamiliar area after that. This kid's turning out to be really useful, after all!

After a few more minutes of running, what greeted us was a fork in the road. One path leads to a cliffside trail, and the other one, a metallic gate on the mountain face.

Time to consult Mr. Footprint.

"Looks like the way splits here. Where to, Yut?"

"Hmm... The footprints don't lead to the door..."

"Alright, let's go."

"Wait!"

Emilia called out just as Yut and I started heading out to the cliffside path, looking like she's pondering the metal door.

"What's the holdup? Yut said the footprints don't go there."

I glanced at Yut to make sure, and he nodded in confirmation.

In response, Emilia just pointed at the door eagerly.

"We're looking for a man-made facility, right? It's gotta be through here!"

"Stop trying to look for shortcuts. C'mon, Yut knows what he's doing."

"B-but...! Ugh, fine..."

Stop it with the dejected look, please.

I know she has a point but... I'm gonna go with my gut this time. If the door turns out to lead to a dead end, we wouldn't have time to backtrack and the facility would be trashed by monsters.

And besides, Yut did say the footprints lead to the cliff path. He hasn't exactly been wrong before.

Granted, he was one for one but that's still 100%.

After several more minutes of follow-the-Yut, we could finally spot what seemed to be a big building that was a good facility candidate.

"Look! See that big house over there?"

"Big house? You mean that building over there?"

"The only buildings around here are the Communion's facilities, so there's a high chance that's what we're looking for. Let's check it out."

And with that, we started walking again. It's been a tiring trek so far, but we don't have much time to catch our breath.

"Whew... it's such a relief we're finally here. I've gotten quite used to a little fighting... but I don't think I'll ever be ready for ambushes. It's been nothing but those lately..."

"Well, that's why they're called ambushes. You aren't supposed to be ready for them."

"I know, but... what a pain. Wish I had Yut's second sight or whatever it is."

Since Yut started tracking the footprints, it's like he suddenly developed tunnel vision. He just went straight through so me and Emilia had to deal with the attacking monsters.

I don't have a problem with it but, Emilia had a different opinion entirely, what with every attack managing to startle her.

Nonetheless, she still managed to handle herself quite well so I guess all that training is paying off after all.

"Hm? What was that, Emilia?"

"Oh, I said I wish I had your second sight. Must be neat seeing where all the enemies are!"

"It's not a sight, really... More like, the land tells me things. Winds and sounds points to places, sand reveals tracks..."

"You lost me at "the land me tells me things" part."

It's not different from standard tracking fare, really. As a beast, I have better senses than average humans, so the techniques Yut mentioned are quite familiar.

Though of course, if all that footprint business from earlier is any indication, Kasch tracking is far more advanced that it's bordering on mystical.

"Well, whatever it is, I can't do it."

"I wish I had your experience, though. I feel like I know nothing. I don't even understand the things my brother tried to teach me!"

"You have a brother?"

"I _had_ a brother. He went to join the Land-Mother."

"To join the... Oh. Sorry, Yut, I had no idea..."

I half-expected Yut to remain silent or something. With all that talk about experience, it's pretty evident that he's still just a kid, despite his tall stature and considerable skill.

But instead, he smiled proudly.

"Don't worry about it! My brother was the bravest of us Kasch! That's something I am very proud of!"

Emilia couldn't help smiling at Yut's bright response, and even I had to fight off a small one tugging at the corner of my lips.

This kid is a strong one, it seems.

"Sounds like a really great person, huh?"

"He is! He's taught me a lot. He said we grew stronger by "touching death". I still don't know what he meant by that, though."

"Touching death? Hey, doesn't that sound like what happened to you at the relic site, Kara?"

And before I knew it, Yut hand his hands on my collar, his face inches away from mine.

"What?! You've touched death?!"

"Woah! Why the sudden freakout, Yut?!"

Speak for yourself, you troublesome girl! What's with sudden transition from being depressed about it to casually throwing it out?

And speaking of trouble, I just knew Yut couldn't be a full positive.

"That's why you're so strong! You've touched death! You must tell me what it's like! What is death?! What is _beyond_ death?!"

If you keep shaking me, I really _will_ be touching death! And even if you _ask_ me that...!

"I have no idea! It was just pitch black! Now gerroff!"

"Pitch black? Like closing your eyes? I don't understand! There must be something! There _must_ be!"

"Emilia, I could use a hand...!"

"H-huh?! Oh, um! Yut! Hey, Yut, calm down!"

To my surprise, the shaking stopped! It actually worked!

"You two can talk later! Let's just finish the mission first, okay?"

"But I...! Hmmm, alright... Then, let's do this, Emilia! Kara!"

And again, he was off running into the distance.

"Whew... That's better. What? Is there something on my face."

"Look at you, taking charge. Maybe you really are destined for great things."

"I can't tell if you're making fun of me, but _someone_ needs to take charge in here!"

Well, _I_ can't tell if she's just messing around or if she's really delirious enough to believe her own nonsense.

But nevermind that. As long as there's someone who can keep that overzealous tribesboy in line. Even if she herself needs to be kept in line too.

"Right, right. _Someone_ really ought to. Well, assume command then, _big sister Emilia_."

"Big sister, huh? Heehee, maybe this is just what I needed! A super-energetic little brother!"

"... who just ran off on his own."

"... oh."

Hoo boy.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **III**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Yut! Hey, Yut!"

Emilia called out to the wandering tribesboy, after we finally caught up with him inside the Communion facility.

This kid's got too much energy in him.

"Emilia? Kara? What took you so long?"

"What took- Don't go running off on your own!"

Yut just looked confused at Emilia's reprimand. To be fair, he can probably sniff us out if he ever gets lost.

Not that it's likely. Kid's pretty much memorized the layout of the place by now.

A beeping sound caught our attention, and Emilia's expression instantly darkened.

No guesses as to who's calling. Nonetheless, she still pressed the answer button.

"Hey, you guys got in? What's the situation over there?"

"Can't you tell? I'm not seeing any of your unwanted visitors around-"

Emilia didn't get to finish her reply however, when the ground suddenly started shaking, accompanied by the alarms blaring to life.

It's always the alarms, it seems. First, the labs and now here. I get that it can't be helped but I really wish I'd brought some earplugs.

"You there? Did this line go dead?"

"No, we're still here! The ground just suddenly-!"

" _Look out!_ "

We quickly snapped our heads to where Yut was pointing, and we collectively paled.

Charging straight towards us was a stampede of monsters. Specifically, Ubakuradas, bulky bipedal creatures that like ramming things as hard and brutal as possible.

Unfortunately, that means _us_ right now.

"Run!"

"Ahh! Not again!"

This is bad, really bad! We're currently on a straight corridor and I don't have anything strong enough to stop a stampede.

Emilia's got more firepower but I doubt she can obliterate all of them. That leaves Yut, but... Right!

"Yut, how fast can you cast your mirage blast?!"

"A few seconds! If I can stand still for a few seconds, I can do it!"

"Hey, are you sure that's a good idea?! If he doesn't pull it off in time, we're in trouble!"

"That's where you come in! On my signal, cast Rabarta and aim for their legs! That should delay them long enough!"

"Ehh?!"

I tuned out Emilia's further complaints, watching the stampeding monsters behind us carefully.

If our timing is wrong, then Emilia might not get them all, or worse, miss completely!

"Ready your weapons!"

"Right!"

"W-wait...!"

"And...! _Now_! Yut, start casting! Emilia, Rabarta, now!"

"Err, R-r-r...!"

" _Emilia_!"

"Ahhh, **[Rabarta]**!"

A thick blanket of frost blasted out from Emilia's staff towards us the stampede, deliberately aimed low.

Mist pushed back the Ubakuradas, covering them from our vision temporarily as the shaking finally stopped.

Which means Emilia actually did it!

Sure enough, when the mist cleared up, the creatures were completely pinned to the ground, their legs covered in a thick sheet of ice.

"Alright! Yut, do your thing!"

" **[Flaming Roar]**!"

A grand fiery aura started bursting out of Yut as he spread his arms, the familiar circles of photon energy appearing one by one behind his back.

After a few moments, the fire beast Nui emerged from the flames, its hammer arm coated in a golden blaze.

Basically, there was a lot of fire.

Nui drew back its arm, and after a moment of charging, punched forward, a stream of flames erupting from its fist.

The firestorm covered the trapped Ubakuradas entirely, before igniting a massive explosion that shook the corridor once more.

" _*cough*cough*_! Everyone, all right?"

"Y-yeah... Did we do it?"

"Looks like. Good job, Emilia."

"Yeah! We got them all! Your Tech was really powerful, Emilia!"

"Oh, um, hehe. Well, your blast wasn't so bad either... Wait, why is the ground shaking again?"

Emilia's right, it was shaking again! What gives?

We turned our attention to the smoke, and even though the dead Ubakuradas littered the wet floor, we could see silhouettes that sent our guts tumbling.

Yut was the one to break the silence.

"Something's still coming!"

"It's the second wave! Let's move!"

"I can't believe this is happeningggg!"

I summoned my handgun and started blasting behind me while running. It didn't even slow them down but there's not much else I can do!

The Ubakuradas were too close for us to pull off any big attacks, and I don't think Yut can cast two mirage blasts in quick succession!

"This is not my idea of a good day!"

"Can it, Emilia! At least try thinking of something!"

"I'll try thinking of happy thoughts while we get trampled to death!"

Ignoring my partner's optimistic outlook in this situation, I unleashed a barrage of charged shots at our pursuers.

It made them flinch, that at least brought miniscule satisfaction, but they just kept trucking right on.

Well, mama did say there'd be days like this.

"Hey, where're you...?!"

I was about to fire another round but immediately held my trigger finger back when I heard my partner's voice, then, a figure dashed from the opposite direction straight towards the stampeding Ubakuradas.

Before I could see who it was, the figure summoned a staff and began gathering a staggering amount of photon energy.

" **[Rafoie]**!"

The figure, who I have now identified as female, brought her staff down, and an enormous explosion hammered the monsters.

When the dust settled, all the remaining Ubakuradas were dead.

What the heck?

The mysterious girl dismissed her staff after surveying the damage, and started walking towards us, her expression not changing in the slightest.

Blue vest, white arm and leg guards and skirt, she was wearing the official Guardians uniform.

Figured they'd turn up sooner or later.

In the time I spent examining her, she managed to cross the distance between her and my team, stopping a few feet in front of me while maintaining her stoic face.

"Hear that sound? That's the evac alarm. You need to leave immediately."

"That's a no. We're part of the security detail here."

"Oh, mercenaries then. Then that was you three behind that explosion?"

"That's right."

"Hmm. Commendable. But I think you're way in over your head if you were having trouble with those monsters. I'll take it from here."

"Hold on a moment there, Guardian lowlife! Just who do you think you are?!"

Emilia unexpectedly interrupted before I could respond.

While I understand why she'd lash out like that, the Guardian wasn't exactly being respectful of us, isn't calling her a lowlife taking things a little too far?

The insult didn't seem to faze her, though, answering in the same rigid tone.

"Lumia Waber, Guardians Intelligence Division. I'm here to help people trapped in the shelter, further in."

Waber? As in Ethan Waber? She's related to the Hero?

Well, no wonder she had such incredible firepower. It's not helpful for my pride but I guess it's safe to say we can leave this to her now, as she said.

It's not like I'm being cold-hearted about the trapped people but if the Guardians are here then we'll most likely just get in the way.

As I was about to give the order to clear out, though, Emilia activated her comms device.

"Hey, Boss, you there?"

"... Emilia! What happened back there, why'd the comm drop like that?"

"We're changing missions. There are people trapped inside a shelter. We're getting them out!"

"You what? Hey, you can't change missions on the fly! What about protecting the test devices?!"

"We'll do that while we help people! Emilia, out!"

"What? Hey, you can't do that! _Hey_ -!"

And then the line was dead. I don't know where she's getting the guts to pull that kind of stunt but we're surely getting in trouble unless we do exceptionally well.

And speaking of trouble, I'd like to smack that smug grin off her face.

"Who died and made you leader, huh?"

"O-ow! Why is it always the cheek? Stop, hey, that _hurts_!"

"... _what_ are you talking about?"

Lumia interrupted our little banter, looking a little bit annoyed and thoroughly confounded.

In response, Emilia crossed her arms and stared her down.

"We can't leave rescuing people to the Guardians. Are you kidding?"

"You're coming with me, then? You better not get in the way."

"I never said we'd be going with you! Leaving them to the Guardians will be like signing their Death Warrants!"

"... do all mercenaries insist on babbling like you do?"

No, I'm pretty sure that's all Emilia.

I don't know why she's being this hostile to Lumia, or why she has such a low opinion of the Guardians but...

Is it really wise to antagonize a Waber?

"Let me explain this in words you're sure to understand. We have no use for _weaklings_ on this operation. None."

" _There's_ the Guardians attitude we all know and hate! Why are you always like that? Always _so_ superior!"

"Emilia, _please_."

I tried calming her down. If she keeps this up, we'll be here all day and the monsters will have had their way with the prisoners AND the test equipment. Repeatedly.

Of course, she ignored me. She didn't even so much as glance at me.

"That reminds me! I thought your name sounded familiar! You're related to the Hero, Ethan Waber, aren't you? Heh! That's probably how you got into the Guardians in the first place! And you call me weak! Hah!"

"No. My accomplishments have _nothing_ to do with my brother. I'm Lumia. _Lumia_!"

Having some identity issues there, Ms. Waber?

But in any case, this has gone on long enough.

"Give it a rest, Emilia! You've said enough!"

"B-but...! Grrr, fine! Take her side all you want! It still doesn't change my opinion on the Guardians!"

"I'm not taking sides. We have a job to do and we can't do it unless we all calm down!"

That, at least, got her to stand down.

While I was rubbing my temples in exasperation, I was approached by a completely baffled Yut.

"I'm a little confused. What's so bad about the Guardians? Why doesn't Emilia like them?"

"Don't ask me."

"Excuse me."

I turned around to face Lumia, looking like she's managed to calm herself down too.

"I would like to offer my apologies. I, too, spoke without proper consideration."

"It's alright. I'd like to apologize for my partner's behaviour."

She answered with a nod. Well, it's good that she managed to recognize the leader of our little group here.

I'm sure it's not a hard choice, really. I'd be quite offended if she didn't.

"In any case, it does no good for us to stand here arguing. If your partner insists on coming, I will join you. The rescue will be a joint mission."

Emilia let off a small "tsk", but was ignored for the most part.

"Furthermore, if your partner is keen on not trusting me, you are welcome to keep me under observation for the duration of the mission."

"Oh, we _will_!"

"Shut up, Emilia. We agree to your terms, Lumia."

"Then it's settled. We've wasted enough time. Let's get to rescuing."

 **ooo000ooo**

 **IV**

 **ooo000ooo**

"They're going after the equipment! Don't let them reach it!"

Lumia ordered out before immediately charging at the hordes of monsters, summoning her staff and casting techs in quick succession.

"Like I'm gonna let a Guardian show us up!"

Emilia called out her own staff, blasting away an approaching Ageeta, a small quadruped creature, with Foie.

I'm glad she's motivated to do some actual work but her priorities may be a little mixed up there.

"Hrrrraahhh!"

Yut let out a battle cry, brandishing his spear before barreling into a group of monsters.

He stabbed an Ageeta before throwing it away, raising his spear up to block another one's attack.

"Well, aren't they motivated..."

I brought my shield up just in time to block a light blast from a nearby Olgohmon, bipeds that like fighting from a distance.

Switching to my handgun, I replied with a charged shot, bringing it off balance in a pained daze.

Before it could recover its senses, I was already upon it. A quick slash from my saber and it was down.

" **[Razonde]**!"

A bolt of lighting hit another Olgohmon, bringing it down instantly.

"Heh! How's that? Let's see Lumia top that one!"

" **[Gifoie]**!"

A wall of fire blazed up around said girl, blasting away multiple monsters that surrounded her.

" **[Diga]**!"

Lumia then spun around a full circle, earthen projectiles shooting off her staff and blasting each and every monster around her to oblivion.

No moment to rest, she jumped up to avoid an ice blast from a Komazli, floating, rod-wielding creatures that can disappear and reappear at a different location.

Lumia twisted around in the air to blast out a ball of fire at her attacker before it can escape, the ensuing explosion ensuring a quick demise.

"Well, that's her topping that."

"Ugh, fine! I'm gonna have to kick it up a notch!"

I blasted away a sneaky Ageeta approaching from the side, and raised an eyebrow at Emilia.

That would have gotten her if I didn't spot it. She huffed in response.

We waited a few moments after that but no more monsters came. Lumia raised her voice to call everyone's attention.

"Looks like we're clear here. Onto the next sector!"

"Ugh, who died and made _her_ boss?"

"Don't steal my lines. Come on."

The next room splits off into two paths, with the equipment sitting in the middle of the fork. If the monsters decide to pincer us in, this might be a little harder than the previous area.

The monsters waited for no one, immediately doing just that.

I immediately leapt into action, landing between two Olgohmons and slashing away at them before they could attack.

" **[Zonde]**!"

Blasts of lightning shot out from Emilia's staff in quick succession, frying a group of Ageetas running towards us.

We were doing pretty well, actually. Better than I expected.

Emilia was doing her best to try and one-up Lumia. She wasn't succeeding, far from it, but that extra effort from her is nice to see.

Yut was using his greatest strength. His brawn. His strikes send monsters flying, unconscious or dead, and his skill with his spear was remarkable, the added range of such a weapon meant that he took minimal damage despite his up-close and personal approach.

Lumia takes the cake for overwhelming firepower, though. Her techs are quick, precise, and continuous, eliminating leagues of monsters with startling efficiency.

But with all that grace and power, her movements seem a little too... _rigid_. It's like watching a machine fight, it's uncanny.

Unlike, say, Emilia, who lets her emotions carry her through movements, sometimes a little _too_ much, Lumia's actions feel a little too practiced, too rehearsed, too monotonous.

"...ey! _Hey_! Universe to Kara!"

"Huh? What? What is it?"

"Dont you what me, mister! You've been staring at Lumia this entire time! Hmph!"

Huh, I guess I was examining her for a smidge too long. Nevermind that, it seems like we've already cleared the area of hostiles.

Now comes the next problem.

"What now? There's two seperate rooms, and I doubt those monsters will wait for us to finish clearing one before attacking the other."

"Then let's split up."

"S-split up? But..."

If you have a better solution then I'd like to hear it, Emilia. As it is, we're running out of time.

Though, Lumia solved that conundrum quite handily be herself.

"I don't see the problem. You three can take one sector. I'll take the other one."

Well, isn't someone feeling confident? But I have a feeling she can back it up, so I have no complaints.

Emilia, though...

"And there it is again! You think you're so better than us, _don't_ you?"

"While it was not my intention to convey such truth, it is a fact that I _can_ clear out an area by my own. Whether you take that as a slight or not is up to you."

"Grr, fine, we'll show you! Kara, Yut, let's go! We'll clear our sector faster than her!"

"Yeah, let's go!"

Wait, what happened to keeping her under observation?!

I only had time to shoot Lumia an apologetic glance before Emilia dragged Yut and I to the next sector.

Which was the simplest in design yet. It was a plain rectangular room, with the equipment sitting beside the far wall. And in front of it was...

A mounted machine gun.

"... why is there a _minigun_ in here?"

"I don't understand. Shouldn't there be a form of defense in every important area?"

Yut curiously asked.

While it is important to have a defense system, I just don't get why there'd be a _frickin' minigun_ in a _subspace facility_. In front of the _test equipment._

Do they just plan to have monsters infiltrate the premises?

Well, whatever, as long as we can use it.

"Alright, I'll take the gun. You two stick to ranged and stay near me to avoid friendly fire."

"Got it!"

They replied in unison and summoned their respective long-range weapons. Emilia went with her staff, as usual while Yut summoned the bow I haven't seen him use since Moatoob. Good, they're following orders.

I stepped behind the gun, and I instantly felt a surge of power fill my entire being!

...or not. Just my imagination, I guess.

"There!"

Yut took the first shot, releasing a photon arrow that blazed through the air and hit an Olgohmon dead center.

" **[Foie]**! **[Zonde]**!"

Emilia, meanwhile, cast weaker but quick spells, for rapid-fire purposes.

Seems like we got perfect position, then. Yut continued picking off the monsters coming from across the sector with deadly accuracy, while Emilia took out a few on her own with blasts of fire, electricity, or whatever she preferred.

My turn.

"Eat minigun!"

The melodic " _ratatata!_ " filled the room as lightning-fast photon bullets fired out from the minigun.

The approaching monsters were showered with a rain of lasers before they can even pass halfway through the room, falling one after the other in quick succession. I almost feel sorry for them. _Almost_.

What... What is this feeling?

" _HAHAHAHAHAHA_!"

"Err, Kara? You're kinda scaring me a bit, haha..."

The monsters didn't stand even the tiniest of chances.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **V**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Whew! That looks like the last of 'em!"

Emilia cheered out in relief as soon as the last invader feel down, swiping a bead of sweat from her forehead.

I turned the minigun's power off as I stepped away from the handles, still feeling the adrenaline rush I got from using the heavy artillery.

I feel like I lost control a little there.

"Well, that went well."

"Speak for yourself! What the heck came over you?!"

I honestly don't know. Maybe it's better if we just forget about all this. And besides, what are the chances we can get to use something like this again?

"Anyway, we should probably see how Lumia's doing."

"Hah, yeah! She's probably whimpering in a corner right now! Serves her right for being high and mighty with us!"

"... what's your deal? Sure, she was arrogant but I didn't think she was _that_ bad..."

"The Guardians are the lowest of the low! You can't trust them! Don't even _think_ about it!"

What is with the hate?

Come to think of it, Emilia did get a little on edge when Tonnio mentioned he and Liina were former Guardians.

I'm really at a loss here. Something's probably happened to give this troublesome girl such disdain for the Guardians.

But _what_?

Well, that's not important right now. We've still got some people to rescue.

We headed onwards to the next area, which was a large, dome-shaped room. There weren't any other notable features besides a very large tunnel that leads out of the room.

And Lumia was there, standing with her back turned towards us, not moving an inch.

So she got here first. And I was so sure we cleared out our area in record time.

"Wha? How'd you-?!"

"Something's wrong."

She cut off Emilia's complaint without even looking back at us.

"I detect no creatures left in the area, yet no one tries to escape. Why?"

"You're right. That is unusual."

"They're probably still in shock from how sudden it all was. Or they're frightened by being trapped! It's really scary, you know?"

Emilia has a point but... I feel like there's something amiss here. It's nothing more than a gut feeling but Lumia's right. There is something wrong.

Lumia started walking towards the tunnel carefully, seeing as it's the only place left we haven't checked yet.

I started following her but my senses started shouting at me to get the hell away.

I ignored it. We're not gonna find some answers just standing here.

"Hey, where are you two going?"

"Hold on!"

We were interrupted out of our approach by Yut's frantic warning.

He looked really distraught, sweat trailing down the side of his face.

"I... I don't like how the wind's blowing. Something... Something's coming!"

We didn't have time to ask what he meant by that, though, as something big, really big, came flying through the tunnel straight towards us.

All I could see was a flash of silver before instinct kicked in, grabbing Emilia and dashing away, trusting Lumia and Yut to do the same.

The ground shook harshly as whatever came landed on the room's center, the ensuing wind threatening to blow us all away.

And after that, a deafening guttural roar assailed our hearing, almost sounding like it came from two giant monsters.

Now, I really wish I brought some earplugs. High Grade Earplugs.

"W-w-what is _that_?!"

I was broken out of my stupor by the shaking voice of my partner, eyes completely wide.

And when I turned around, I felt mine do the same.

It was a giant, two-headed, two-tailed, silver quadruped dragon, and it looked decidedly not friendly.

What a day.

"Alterazgoug...! This is bad... What would a Communion test creature be doing rampaging here for? This makes no sense!"

Lumia spat out through gritted teeth, losing her cool confidence completely for the first time since we met her.

Though she did manage to say something interesting. Why would the Communion have something like this hanging around?

And why the flipping hell did they not ensure it wouldn't ever escape? Why are scientists always so damned _incompetent_?!

"So, that big dragon is why no one has been able to escape?"

"That's right, Yut. To be honest, I kinda wanna escape myself... Hey, Kara, you think we can handle that?"

"... not sure, really."

Against something I've never had a chance to fight before, which was also a massive behemoth, I have no idea about our chances of victory.

Emilia's definitely improved, that's for sure, and Yut's got his mirage blasts and pure strength, but...

Lumia must have seen the apprehension on our faces though, if what she said next is any indication.

"I see no reason for you fight. Withdraw, and I will handle this. Your mission is complete, in any case."

All yours, then!

Is what I wanted to say. She's right, our mission was only to protect the test equipment.

But the thought of leaving a girl, a girl powerful enough to blast us all away but still a girl, to fight that thing on its own leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

And besides, it's not like I have anything planned later.

"Are you an idiot? You can't fight that thing alone!"

"I am a Guardian. I cannot leave when people are in need of help."

All hope of us escaping together was crushed when Lumia summoned her staff, taking on a battle stance.

Well, I get determination but this stubbornness is just getting annoying!

I was about to tell her off but Emilia stomped past me, looking quite irritated.

"Well, you dying isn't gonna help them, either!"

"Even if it means death, I must try! To do any less would be to dishonor my brother!"

"Gah! Are all Guardians this annoyingly righteous?!"

And then Emilia surprised me by summoning her staff and taking position beside Lumia, obviously scared, but that determined look in her eyes...

It was just like back in our ship, when she asked me to train her. _Kettei no Me_.

"Emilia is right! We'll run from nothing! We'll show them how strong we are!"

Yut went next, tightening his grip on his spear and standing on Lumia's other side, further bewildering her.

They're crazy, all of them.

"What are you doing? This is no joke! You must leave at once!"

"Hey, I don't wanna fight this thing either but if I leave this to you, you might run for the hills. So we're staying, got that?!"

"What?!"

Ah, screw it.

"Sorry Little Miss Waber, but we either run together, or fight together."

"You too? And I thought you were the sensible one. You really need to-!"

The dragon let out a titanic roar, seemingly growing tired of our banter.

Well, no time like the present.

"Never mind, here it comes...!"

Alterazgoug attacked...!


	13. V2 Ch5: I'll Wrap It For You 2

**Well, here's Chapter 5. Leave a review, please!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 2

Photon Art Online

 **Chapter 5**

 **I'll Wrap It For You 2**

 **ooo000ooo**

 **I**

 **ooo000ooo**

In all actuality, this was a really bad idea.

In fact, if Lumia Waber wasn't here, no amount of anything would have convinced me to fight this thing unless it was a direct order. I'm not sure about Yut but I'm pretty sure Emilia would have ran away no matter what.

But it was this troublesome girl that didn't want to run away this time. I don't know if it's from her supposed rivalry with Lumia or whatever but...

It was very out of character.

Nonetheless, we're in this mess now. Leaving Lumia alone to fight this thing doesn't quite sit well with me.

"[ **Damdiga** ]!"

Even if she could obviously take care of herself just fine.

"[ **Zonde** , [ **Zonde** , [ **Zonde** ]!"

Emilia's electric barrage assaulted Alterazgohg's face while it was still staggered from Lumia's spell, releasing a pained but hale roar.

"Hragh!"

The other head reared up to avenge it but was violently interrupted by Yut's high speed spear charge.

While both heads were distracted, I took my chance.

Against such an opponent, my shield would just be extra weight. And I really needed to get a more powerful gun.

So the best approach would be maximum offensive and evasive capability.

I leapt towards the dragon's foreleg and unleashed a quick three slash combo with my twin sabers.

I landed behind the leg and immediately leapt away to avoid a hastily launched breath attack, enabling me to unleash another slash barrage on the same leg.

This seemed to be enough, as the dragon was forced to kneel and screech in pain, but was instantly bombarded by a combined Rafoie and Razonde from Lumia and Emilia.

It still seemed to hang tough but a powerful slam on the face from Yut brought it down harshly.

It was still alive but, that's a lotta damage!

I had my doubts but we were actually doing really well!

"Hey, hey, doesn't that seem too easy? For such a big dragon-"

"Stop it with the flags, you noisy girl!"

Of course, it was never that easy.

True enough, Alterazgohg got up again and promptly issued a challenging roar.

Before we could recover from the shockwave, numerous light and dark energy projectiles that took the form of ethereal birds came flying towards us fast.

I slashed away with my twin sabers and leapt away from those I couldn't destroy in time.

"[ **Damfoie** ]!"

"[ **Dus Robaddo** ]!"

A thin but powerful stream of fire poured out from Lumia's staff while Yut spun his spear around himself with a great deal of speed, making short work of the bird bullets.

Those two had no problems evading or destroying them but Emilia, on the other hand...

"[ **Zon** \- _Eep_! K-Kara, help, they're too fast!"

She was able to dodge it in time but seems like her casting speed isn't enough to destroy the projectiles in time.

"Then use your saber!"

"Eh? A-alright!"

She switched her staff for her saber, and hurriedly and awkwardly swung it at an approaching bird, quickly destroying it.

Those projectiles were fast but don't seem to have much in the way of durability.

Any notions of it being the only form of attack it'll do were dispelled, however, when the white dragon charged at us, creating strong tremors with every violent step.

"Hahaha! What a strong opponent! Gets the blood pumping!"

As we got out of the way, this troublesome jungle boy went the opposite direction and instead ran to meet the charging dragon head on.

"Hey, what is your teammate doing? That's completely reckless! [ **Rafoie** ]!"

Lumia seemed just a bit worried but even if you ask me that... I have no idea what the hell goes on through that kid's head.

Nonetheless, Yut's leaping charge struck one of the dragon's heads while Lumia's fireball blasted the other one, staggering it yet again.

It didn't seem to forget about attacking, though, twisting sideways to allow for a double tail whip attack.

Yut got out of the way quickly enough, and launched another assault at the dragon.

The rest of us didn't get a chance to rest, though, as the energy birds were still coming at full force.

"Gah! These things...! _Huff_! Wouldn't stop coming...!"

Emilia was doing alright, but since she hasn't used her saber all that much, extended use such as this was quickly draining her energy.

"Hey, Emilia, _catch_!"

"Huh? Hey, what...?"

I threw her my handgun, which she was able to catch and get a firm grip on after a little fumbling.

"Your gun? Whaddaya want me to do with _this_?"

" _Use_ it, you idiot!"

"Hey, I can't read minds, you know?! And I don't know how to use a gun!"

It really should have been obvious what I wanted her to with it but really, I can't be surprised anymore.

In any case, the gun won't be of much use against Alterazgohg itself, but it should work fine on the fragile bird bullets.

"Just press the trigger, already!"

"You mean thi- Woah!"

"Hey, watch it!"

Ah, I'm already starting to regret this decision. I almost got shot.

Well, I'll let that slide for now. We need a plan to put this thing down for good. Yut's doing a good job of drawing aggro, but he's not doing big on dealing fatal hits.

Slowly whittling down its health was viable, but the more we let it rampage around, the higher the probability it breaks something important. Or worse, injure the trapped people.

"Hmm... Maybe we can lure it back to the room with the minigun..."

"Enough with that minigun! You went ballistic on that thing! It's not even a minigun, in the first place!"

I don't know what this girl's talking about.

A minigun is a minigun.

"Well, nevermind, we already have our heavy artillery here, anyway."

"Yeah, I'm the only big gun you need!"

"... I was talking about Lumia."

Sure enough, Lumia was practically dealing all the heavy damage, obliterating several bird bullets at once while continuously blasting the dragon with high powered Technics.

"Sure, side with the Guardian!"

"I'm not siding with her or anything, I'm just saying-!"

" _Hmph_!"

...What's her deal?

Whatever. I've got more pressing matters at hand.

We need something bigger to bring this big guy down.

"Hey, Yut, come over here for a sec!"

The battle hungry jungle boy immediately leapt over towards me, panting a little but still looking quite fresh.

That's some top grade stamina right there.

"What is it?"

"Think you can handle another mirage blast?"

"Hmm, probably! I'll go try it right now!"

Yut got into his stance as photon energy started accumulating around him.

Without the aggro-drawer, however, the dragon was freed up to attack us again.

Lumia was high intensity, but as a ranged attacker, she's not gonna be an effective decoy. Which means it's up to me to buy time for Yut.

"Emilia, protect Yut!"

"Roger!"

I leapt up to deal a slash at the left head, and using it as a launching pad, sprang towards the other head to unleash a quick one-two cross slash.

"[ _Grants_ ]!"

I got out of the way in time to avoid a rain of light crashing down on both heads, blinding Alterazgohg momentarily.

Well, I guess I should just take it as a compliment that Lumia was confident that I'd get out of the way of her Tech.

Still a little unnerving, though.

"Take this! [ **Flaming Roar** ]!"

In any case, my short assault and Lumia's blinding attack allowed Yut enough time to finish his blast.

For the second time today, the fire beast, Nui, made his appearance.

Alterazgohg was enveloped in a brilliant blaze, before being smothered by a powerful explosion.

As soon as we could, we moved to regroup.

"Hey, is everyone alright?"

"I am unharmed."

"Huff...! Still fine!"

"D-did we do it? Is it dead?"

Before the smoke cleared, though, Alterazgohg was more than happy to answer Emilia's question itself, roaring in a very hostile way.

And in an instant, the smoke was blown away by the flapping of its giant wings.

It was in the air in short order.

"Looks like your comrade couldn't finish it off."

"Oh, come on!"

"Save it. Any ideas, Lumia?"

"Hmm, I-"

"Hey, why are you asking _her_?! I say we wing it, Little Wing style! _Little Wing it_!"

Before I, Lumia, or Yut could respond to such an awful pun, Alterazgohg was already blasting us with breath attacks of light and dark.

The bird bullets seemed to have stopped, however. Whether it's because it was already heavily damaged or it can't do it in the air, I'm not privy to.

Nonetheless, with it switching to long range bombing, we need to take it down before it gets much more dangerous.

Still, we've already tried just about everything we have.

...Little Wing it, huh?

 **ooo000ooo**

 **II**

 **ooo000ooo**

I take it back.

Abort Little Winging It.

"Aahhhh, Kara, save me!"

"I'll defeat y- Gyaahhh!"

"... Is it always like this with you people?"

Unfortunately.

Mistaking winging it for doing whatever they wanted, Emilia and Yut immediately started trying to assault the dragon without any semblance of coordination.

Emilia started haphazardly firing with the handgun I gave her, which did absolutely nothing, while Yut was, somehow, able to latch on to one of Alterazgohg's tails.

Their attempts only served to irritate the injured dragon.

And because Yut was still attached to it, Lumia couldn't fire off any techs in fear of hitting the kid.

So we're stuck with running around, evading the dragon's charges and breath attacks. And Yut, despite just having fired off a surely taxing mirage blast, was still hanging on.

I'm not sure if it's determination or stubbornness but it would be much more helpful if he just _got the heck back down on the ground._

"Take this, dragon!

Yut, somehow managing to hold on with one arm, brought his spear down on the tail's base, prompting the dragon to trash around.

This seemed to be too much for him, though, as he was finally shaken off.

But I could've sworn he had a satisfied smile on before he crashed down into the ground.

"H-hey, Yut, you okay?! Here, [ **Resta** ]!"

As Emilia went on to heal the unconscious Yut, Lumia was already charging up an attack of her own.

"[ **Nosmegid** ]!"

A dark ball of photon energy emerged from her staff and flew straight towards the airborne dragon, hitting it with an explosive bang.

Not giving it any reprieve, Lumia fired off three more Nosmegid techs, each homing in on the target.

The first one hit it head-on, dealing quite a bit of damage, but the second one seemed to cause a weaker effect.

The third one didn't even make it flinch.

One look at Lumia though, tells me that this wasn't a surprise to her. In fact, she was already casting another tech.

"[ **Grants** ]!"

The light-based tech slammed down on Alterazgohg's winged back, bringing it back down to the earth with a heavy thud.

It's a little scary how many techs this girl knows.

"So I was right. The dragon does change elements."

"Is that why you casted Nosmegid?"

"Correct. Baiting it into changing to Dark element with Nosmegid before bringing it down with a light tech was my plan. Fortunately, my assumption was right, and it worked."

Well, color me impressed.

Alterazgohg was a test creature by the Communion so there's not much info about it anywhere.

Perhaps that's why it's only apparently able to switch into two elements so far. Good thing for us, it didn't turn extremely violent due to experimentations and such.

"Hey, Kara! Yut's all healed up and safe in a corner, but he's still out for the count. How's it going over there?"

Alterazgohg answered that question for us, though, by announcing it's presence with a pretty violent roar.

Judging from it's state, it's probably on its last legs by now. But if we're to end this, we have to do it decisively.

"I have something that can finish it off. If you can distract it for a moment, please do so."

"Who do you-"

"Enough about that, Emilia. Come on."

"Grrr, fine! But I won't be happy about it!"

Just can it already, you idiot girl!

That aside, what could possibly be Lumia's finishing move? A mirage blast?

I was answered in the affirmative by the Guardian entering a blast casting stance. Although unlike Yut's searing energy, this was more... _earthy_ of some sort.

"Use your staff for this one, Emilia. I don't know what you were planning earlier by using the handgun."

"Hey, you gave that to me. It's only polite that I use it!"

Ah, whatever.

Despite the complaint, though, she re-summmoned he staff, Clarita Visas, and took position beside me.

Well, would you look at that. It's been a while but it's me and Emilia again. With Yut knocked out and Lumia charging, it's time to employ a formation we've kept in reserve.

Emilia opened up with a Razonde, the jagged bolts of electricity hitting the wary dragon with a powerful zap.

Taking the opportunity with it being staggered, I made my way towards it's unprotected side, dodging a lethargic claw swipe.

"[ **Rising Crush** ]!"

Fast bladework with emphasis on upwards motion assaulted Alterazgohg's wing, inflicting a good number of wounds that it very much didn't apprrciate.

"[ **Barta** ]!"

The focused blasts of ice hit the faces head on, disabling any attempts to punish me for getting in close.

On my way back to safe distance, I slid under it's scaly stomach, dealing even more damage with my sabers as I went.

I leapt up from where I emerged, leaping up to slash at the head that was attempting to fire at my partner.

"[ **Rafoie** ]!"

Before the explosion hit, I was already out of it's blast range.

Sure enough, the dragon was getting increasingly agitated, completely forgetting about Lumia.

This was the heavily practiced battle strategy that me and Emilia deviced. Well, mostly me.

Since I was the melee fighter, my role was to get in close and rain down light but fast attacks, to enable effective evasive maneuvers.

Emilia is to fire from a distance, to both cause damage and to prevent the opponent from countering my attacks, while in turn, I continuously draw aggro to keep my partner safe.

It's not fool-proof but it's working wonders right now.

Of course, if Yut's to be a usual fixture in our team then it's gonna need a few tweaks.

"I'm ready! Get out of the way!"

"Don't tell me what-"

" _Move_! Do it, Lumia!"

In a split second, the aura permeating from Lumia intensified several magnitudes, even causing a minor localized quake.

"[ **Clod** **Impact** ]!"

Lumia raised her staff high, glowing bright orange, and brought it down in a wide arc.

At first, nothing happened, but before Alterazgohg could capitalize, something absolutely massive brutally slammed down on its back, shaking the ground harshly and causing massive amounts of dust clouds to form.

We stumbled with our footing for a few seconds as the air cleared.

Sitting contentedly on the unmoving dragon's back was a giant orange mushroom, not at all affected by any recoil from the body slam it just performed.

This was the earth beast, Toitoi.

Toitoi disappeared with a puff of smoke soon after, revealing a crater vaguely shaped like a combination of the earth beast's bottom and the Alterazgohg it just flattened.

Sure enough, the twin headed dragon was laying inside the crater, thoroughly stiff and very much _dead_.

We won.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **III**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Whew! We... we actually did it!"

Emilia breathed out in relief, after we made absolutely sure that the dragon wasn't going to get up again.

It took everything we had along with the kitchen sink to bring this thing down. It'd be pretty ridiculous if it's still alive, especially after that devastating mirage blast from Lumia.

Still, if the Communion's going to keep something like _that_ around, you'd think they'd keep a closer watch on it or something.

But no, leave it to my luck to run into such an opponent. I probably shouldn't say it in front of Emilia but it's a good thing Lumia was here.

Oh, and speaking of Lumia, she's just returning from checking on the people who we came to rescue.

"The people trapped inside are safe. We're lucky we made it in time. There was a handful of wounded, but I've already called for help.

Well, she certainly doesn't leave things half done.

And speaking of wounded, we better get Yut back to Little Wing. There's only so much a Resta can do.

"Well, that's a relief. Boss would be fuming if we failed this mission now..."

I imagine he'd be. What with this troublesome girl just casually changing the mission on a whim.

Though, surprisingly, Emilia didn't lash out or anything towards Lumia, though she still doesn't plan on being friendly with her.

At least she's being civil now, that's gotta count for something.

Though just as I thought we could finally talk like well-behaved people, a dawning realization came over me.

Of course not.

"Frankly, I could've gotten here sooner if you lot _hadn't_ been involved."

Excuse me, what the heck?

" _Seriously_?! After all that, you're _still_ going to act high and mighty?!"

For once, I agree with my partner!

I've been trying to get Emilia to lay off on he aggressiveness towards her the entire mission and this is the thanks I get?

Really, if I haven't met Guardians before, I'd take Emilia's word for what they're like just from that!

Well, if you wanna play that game, Little Miss Waber, then be my guest.

"You really think you could've taken that thing on your own?!"

"Hey, relax a little there, 'Lia."

"What? What do you mean, relax? You're just gonna let her look down on us like that?"

No, of course not.

I'm just going to turn her own words against her. I'm good at that, apparently.

"Hey, she said she could've gotten here faster, right? She didn't say anything about taking down that dragon."

"What are you... Oooh! I get it!"

Lumia, by now, was now scrunching up her face in confusion. While Emilia was slowly but surely forming a smug grin on her face.

"Ah, really. She acts so cool and collected but she's just too shy to say "thanks for the help"!"

"No, that's not what I..."

"Yeah. She's probably realized that she couldn't have defeated that dragon alone in time."

" _I_...! Hmph. Think what you will."

Emilia and I shared a small chuckle over Lumia's seemingly embarrassed expression before I caught myself.

Me, chuckling? With Emilia?

What is happening to me? I was supposed to be unapproachable! This girl has corrupted me!

Emilia, oblivious to my inner conflict, seemed to have realized she was the only one laughing now, looking awkwardly at the stoic Lumia.

"Well, I-I'll stop teasing you now. It's not like you were _completely_ useless. For a Guardian, that is."

Lumia spent a long time giving us a hard look, along with a sparing glance towards where the sleeping Yut was. It'd be unnerving if we weren't just making fun of her.

"... what are your names?"

Uh-oh. Is she gonna report us to Guardians HQ? Over teasing her? Now that'd be telling.

Joking aside, maybe she'll credit us? Despite our jesting, she really would have had problems defeating a creature like Alterazgohg on her own.

Emilia didn't even hesitate.

"Emilia Percival. This is my partner, Kara Draken. And the sleeping kid over there is Yut Jun Yunkers."

"Percival, Draken, and... Yunkers?"

"He's Kasch. We work for Little Wing, a private security firm. If you wanna file a complaint, take it up with them!"

This kid. This is _exactly_ the kind of attitude that lands her sorry behind in trouble so often!

Responsibility? Accountability? What are those? Could I eat them?

That's probably what goes on through her head!

Lumia, though, still with an unchanging expression, only nodded once.

"Little Wing. Right. Well, I should be going. There are reports to be written."

Emilia and I just watched her slowly retreating form.

And with that, Lumia Waber has left the party.

It's been an experience, to say the least. She's a very powerful Force, with a plethora of techs at her disposal.

But her rigidness, it's holding her back from her full potential. Stoicness isn't bad but too much of it isn't good, either.

And she's only mentioned the topic once but living in the shadow of her brother is probably part of the reason she's trying too hard.

Well, with a brother like Ethan Waber, and the attention that comes with it, it's understandable that she'd be like that but, hypocritical as it may be, she can afford to live life a little.

She's still young, after all. Definitely not younger than Emilia but she couldn't have been older than me.

"Huh. Cold right up to the end. That'll teach us to lend a hand!"

"... come again?"

"Were you even listening? I said... wait. You were staring at Lumia again, weren't you?"

Was I?

Well, I couldn't help pondering about that girl's circumstances. She's quite the dilemma all on her own.

"Ah, sorry. I'm just a bit curious about her attitude."

"Yeah, right! You also probably think she's cute, don't you? _Don't you?!_ "

I haven't thought about it earlier but, yeah, you could say that Lumia was cute. And I'm sure there are people out there who'd think of her "I'm better than you" attitude as cute, too.

Not me, though.

"... Well, in general terms, yes..."

"...! H-how insensitive! Unacceptable! You can't just call other girls cute in front of me!"

"Huh? What? What are you going on about now?"

"Hmph! From now on, calling other girls cute is banned, you hear me?! _Banned_! Forbidden!"

Ah, what is this girl on to now?

Oh, nevermind. I'll just lose hair trying to get on the same wavelength as this girl.

"Whatever. Come on, let's go get Yut and return to Clad 6, already."

"... I'm his partner and he's calling other girls cute..."

"Hurry up or I'm leaving you behind!"

"Huh? Hey, you wouldn't actually do that, will you? Hey! _Hey_!"

 **ooo000ooo**

 **IV**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Welcome back! So sorry to disturb you so soon but Monsieur Boss needs to see you!"

Chelsea said through the ship's comm link, immediately upon our return to Clad 6.

Yut's already been sent to the med facility. It's looking more and more like he'll regularly be in that place.

He raised a bit of a fuss upon waking up but that matter was quickly resolved by the bribery... err, _promise_ of pudding.

Well, there it is, in any case. Considering Emilia's reckless action of switching missions, we're probably in trouble.

Granted, we did complete our mission without a hitch but that was still an irresponsible thing to do. We still compromised the safety of the lab tech.

Or it could also be that Lumia filed a complaint due to Emilia being such a problem.

Well, either way, we're going to get chewed out. Though it's hard to tell due to Chelsea's cheerful behavior.

"Oh, _blegh_. I don't suppose we get a pass on this one?"

"No, no. He wants to see _you_ especially, mademoiselle Emilia. We'll be waiting!"

Wait, could it be? I'm not getting in trouble?

Well, I should probably feel sorry for my partner but...

"Ugh, being directly called it makes it harder to skip out. Hey, Kara, d'you have any earplugs?"

Really, let this be a lesson for her.

Although, I do suppose I'm not entirely blameless here. I am the party leader, after all.

And besides, we did save some people trapped inside the facility, and also helped take down a runaway test creature.

So, depending on Kraz's mood, we're probably not gonna get in as much trouble as Emilia's expecting.

We got out of the ship, and I immediately noticed everyone looking away as soon as we warped in.

Even Vasque and Kunoh excused themselves the moment I caught a glimpse of them.

Hey, hey, don't act like we did something horrible. You're making me a bit nervous here.

"Huh? What's wrong with everyone? Is there something on my face?"

Emilia remains clueless but that's to be expected.

Over at the corner, I could spot Tonnio and Liina. I managed to approach them before they could escape.

"What's going on? Why's everyone acting so shifty?"

"Shifty, huh? Well, if you look closely, I'm sure you can figure it out!"

"Yeah, don't waste time talking to _us_. Kraz and Chelsea have been waiting for you, you know?"

No, I can't.

Still, it's a little strange that Kraz and Chelsea would be specificaly waiting for us. And I haven't seen Ursula around, either.

These two're behaving suspiciously. Almost like we're being shooed away.

Strange. Too strange. There's something amiss here but the beastlings don't have any plans on enlightening me.

Well, they're not gonna be useful, it seems.

I took another look around and although everyone's stopped looking away, they're still doing their best to ignore the two of us.

Well, except for one person, that is.

"Heeey, you guys are back! Didja miss me?"

Well, to be honest...

"No, not really."

"That's cold, dude."

Red complained but she's obviously taking it in jest.

But if she's talking to us, well me, normally then maybe she has a clue as to what's going on.

So I asked her.

"Eh, boss said to keep it under wraps so that's what I'm doing."

"Since when were you the order-following type?"

Well, it looks like she's not gonna be of much use, either.

I glanced around for my partner, and I found her still trying to approach several people that were avoiding her.

Really, can't she take a hint?

"Hey, Emilia. Quit bothering them, will ya?"

"Bothering them? Their _attitude_ is what's bothering! What's the deal with these _jerks_?"

Several people flinched upon hearing Emilia call them jerks but continued on with their day, albeit in a suspicious manner.

Nonetheless, she made her way over to us.

"Ugh. All that trouble with Lumia made me forget about Kraz's griping. And now all this shady business... He's not gonna be happy. Him and Ursula both, probably."

"Hey, if I recall correctly, _you_ were the trouble."

She spent a moment looking affronted but just drooped her shoulders down with a sigh.

"I know... I didn't have authority to change the mission, and I was being a massive pain to Lumia. I hate the Guardians but I shouldn't have acted that way..."

"Well, as long as you understand."

It's caught me a bit off-guard that Emilia's freely admitting to her mistakes but I'm not above giving credit to someone who's trying to improve.

I only hope that this can lead to a more responsible Emilia in our future missions.

"Yeah but... Haa... Of all days, why'd today have to be so bad..."

For a moment there, I thought it was just her usual rambling but I sensed a hint of genuine sadness in her tone?

What was with that?

"Hey, what's up with today? Something important?"

"Huh? Oh it's... Nevermind. It's nothing important."

She waved off hastily but I feel like she's hiding something?

And here I thought she was all for sharing secrets. Partner-y stuff, she said. Yeah right.

Before I could interrogate her further, though...

"Lumia? Who's that?"

"A stuck-up Guardian we ran into... What the heck are _you_ doing here?"

"Hey, no need to be rude, you know? Weren't we a team just recently?"

Emilia scoffed in response, but didn't say anything else.

Well, at least they're not fighting right off the bat this time.

In any case, we better start making our way towards the CEO office. We've already taken too much detours.

"Oh, you're gonna report to the boss? Mind if I come with?"

"Uh... Sure. Feel free to tag along."

I can't help but feel this kid's taken a liking to us.

I just can't quite put a finger on it but there's just something... _off_ about Red. I don't know if she's doing it to mess with us or anything but all the times we kept running into her, even before we knew she joined Little Wing, can't be all coincidences.

And she acts all familiar with us but the moment I try to find out something about her, like when I asked about her real name, she turns to secrecy.

She's a puzzle that's not exactly trying to stay unsolved, but isn't giving any hints whatsoever.

But nevermind that. If she keeps hanging around with us, I'm sure she'll open up about her motives sooner or later.

That is, if she could just avoid provoking Emilia too much. And I still have no idea how she'll interact with the newest troublemaker dumped into my care, Yut.

That brings the total number of problem children I have to look out for to three.

Damn it, what kind of quartet is this?

Deciding to push away my frustrations for now, we went on towards our destination.

Soon enough, making our way through the main office that was strangely devoid of Kraz, Chelsea or Ursula, we reached the door to the CEO office in the far back.

Emilia stepped forward to beep the pad beside the door.

"Emilia and Kara, reporting for duty..."

"Come in, you two."

It was Ursula's cool voice that answered, giving me no clues as to what's awaiting us.

Emilia audibly gulped upon hearing the voice before turning back to face me.

"Ugh... Just the sound of her voice is enough to make my stomach do backflips..."

It's a good thing for her that I've already steeled myself to face this together.

I'm sure she'll appreciate me acting partner-y every once in a while, right?

"Hey, don't worry. I got your back. We're partners, aren't we?"

She looked surprised for a while, but in the end, she couldn't help herself and smiled a cheerful smile at me.

"Hehe. I feel a lot better already. Alright! Take a deep breath and here we go...!"

The instant the door opened, what greeted us was darkness.

Wh-what is this? Are we being ambushed?

Before we could do anything else, though, the lights quickly flashed on all at once, startling us both.

Immediately after _that_...

"Happy Birthday!"

 **ooo000ooo**

 **V**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Err... What?"

Unsurprisingly, Emilia was the one to break the silence following that little surprise.

Wait, hold up. Birthday?

It wasn't _my_ birthday, so...

"Hey, careful, you two. It could be a trap...!"

"... You're right! They're just trying to lull me into a false sense of security! Well, you won't fool me!"

I grabbed the arm of the idiot who actually tried running away, while I forcefully pinched the cheek of the other idiot who was obviously trolling us again, ignoring her cries of pain.

"Yer already a fool. Don't ya know a birthday party when you _see_ one?"

Kraz said as he walked towards us, in his hands was a small black box, obviously a present. And on his neck was a silver necklace I'd never seen him wear before.

And it wasn't just him who was present. Chelsea, expectedly, was also here, and she was the one who cheered the loudest.

Ursula had a more reserved greeting, but for a serious individual like her to partake in such an occasion... She really does have a fun side.

Yut was also here, albeit covered in numerous bandages. To be able to get here in time for the surprise despite being treated earlier... What a trooper.

Along with Red who came with us, Emilia's entire main circle of 'friends' from Little Wing was present.

So I was correct.

It was Emilia's birthday. That explains her dejectedness earlier.

That's also why everyone was acting suspicious. And I guess Red was in on the secret too.

I'm a little surprised I'm only finding about it now, though. With such a runny mouth, it's a wonder Emilia hasn't let it slip yet.

"Huh? Wait a minute. You aren't angry at me?"

"And why would I be?"

So we aren't in trouble?

It was then that I remembered what kind of company Little Wing was.

As long as you do what you're told, as long as you don't cause trouble, Little Wing wouldn't keep constant watch over everything you do.

It's one of the reasons I agreed to the deal, and why Tonnio, Liina, and Red decided to join.

Well, that was a bit embarrassing. I guess I must have gotten a bit too used to getting in trouble with Emilia in tow.

"You saved the day down there. We even got a thank you from the Guardians."

Ursula said, a hint of pride hidden somewhere in her cool, firm voice.

Huh? Then Lumia really did...

Heh. She acts all cool but she actually really _did_ appreciate the help we gave her.

"The Guardians? Really? I thought Lumia had it in for me..."

Well, in all actuality, she probably did. If we hadn't helped with the dragon then we'd probably receive a complaint instead.

"Besides, it's not like you didn't follow orders. Ya took care of yer own business, then you helped the Guardians out. Now that's using yer noggin'."

Kraz came forward and spoke out. With every word, Emilia's expression just became dumber and dumber.

To be fair, she's _still_ probably not used to being praised.

Kraz, though, in a voice that's barely audible, but I was able to hear due to my enhanced hearing, suddenly said-

"... the only one not usin' their noggin' is yours truly..."

"Come again, boss?"

"Forget it. Come here for a sec, wouldja?"

"... You're not luring me in close so you can sucker punch me, are you?"

Ah, this girl.

Nonetheless, her senseless response brought out a few chuckles from the others.

Except Kraz, though, who looked increasingly annoyed but somehow... _embarrassed_?

"Shut up and get over here already! I swear, talkin' to you is like pullin' _teeth_. Now c'mon an' take this already!"

He shoved the black box he was holding into Emilia's hands, who looked at it warily.

She examined it for a few seconds, even _sniffing_ it a few times, much to Kraz's irritation.

By this point, I can't tell if she's just doing all this just to get back at him for that entire gift fiasco.

I mean, it was clearly working.

"What is this?"

"Well, if you'd stop yapping and open it, you'd damn see."

She duly opened it.

Inside was a fancy pair of shiny silver earrings with a wing motif.

"Earrings? What are they for?"

"What are they- They're your bleedin' _birthday present_!"

Things slowed down for a bit after that as Emilia finally, finally, caught on.

This time, she didn't even attempt to hide the overjoyed smile she was currently wearing.

"A birthday present?! For me?!"

"What else would I give you at your very own _birthday party_?"

Kraz huffed and sighed, looking like he'd lost a few years just trying to give Emilia the gift.

"Didn't have much time to spend shoppin' so I just grabbed the first thing I saw. If I'd known how much trouble it'd be just getting you to take the darn things then I wouldn't have _bothered_ -"

"Hold on a second!"

Emilia suddenly interrupted, looking like she's just only realized something important.

"What is it _now_?"

"That necklace you're wearing! I thought you'd thrown it away?"

She pointed to the piece of jewelry that Kraz was wearing on his neck.

Thrown it away?

So _that's_ what she was planning on giving him the other day. The one Yut dug out of the trash.

Huh. It took him a while but I guess he caught on, eventually.

I'll say it again. These two are more alike than they'd ever admit.

"I figured if no one else wanted it, why let it go to waste? Why? You got a problem with it?"

"Nope! No problem! It looks good on you!"

I never thought I'd see the day Kraz blush but...

Here we are.

"The earrings! I almost forgot! Can I put them on? Oh, who _cares_?! I'm putting them on!"

Well, looks like the cheerful Emilia's back.

She causes problems too but I like this Emilia better than sulky Emilia.

"Oooohh! They're _beautiful_! Look! Aren't they _gorgeous_? See how nice they are? Heehee!"

"Ya sure change yer tune fast."

Kraz didn't bother waiting for a reply, heading straight towards a couch and laying on it.

Ursula, who approached as soon as Kraz and Emilia were done with their little skit, gave off a ' _tsk_ ' at Kraz's overly lax behavior.

But she's still smiling.

"When you said you wanted to throw her a birthday party, I had my doubts. But I have to give you credit. You're smarter than you look."

Wait, it was Kraz who planned this?

I'd expect Chelsea but Kraz?

Well, now.

"Just followin' Chelsea's advice."

"Maybe so, but see how happy she is? That's all because of _you_."

"Well, it's good to see she knows how to smile."

I feel like I'm listening in on something I'm not supposed to.

I can't quite place the vibe I'm getting from these two.

Something like... I guess the word that would be closest is... _family_?

"Everyone likes getting presents. It makes them happy."

"Hmph. Ya ask me, she's feelin' a bit _too_ happy."

"There's no such thing as being too happy. Wouldn't you say, recruit?"

Huh?

Hey, don't drag me into this.

Kraz must have figured out what I was thinking, though, giving off a shit-eating grin.

"Heh, maybe next time you ain't gonna snoop in people's conversations, eh?"

"Err, sorry."

"Eh, forget it. You did good on your mission. I'll let this slide. So, what's your take on this?"

Even if you ask me that...

I was just a young mercenary trying to get by. I was unfriendly and distant. I never voiced out my thoughts. I always got by alone.

I never felt that I belonged anywhere.

Stay out of my business, and I'll keep out of yours.

So if you ask me something concerning presents and happiness, I wouldn't know how to answer.

To be fair, I also never thought I'd be dragged into matters concerning Ancients, apocalypses, and problem children.

But still, looking at everyone gathered here...

Yut trying to eat all the pudding he can find...

Red just laughing everything up, trying to rile up my partner...

Chelsea just generally being cheerful...

Kraz and Ursula just watching from behind...

Mika, who I was sure was watching even if she couldn't directly celebrate with us...

And...

Emilia, gleefully showing off a present she got from someone she considers important...

"I think... that presents from people close to you are extra special."

Oh, god. That was horrible. I immediately felt my face heating up.

But still, that was what I felt from looking at my partner's smiling face.

"See? He gets it. I'm sure you understand that, Kraz."

"Can't say that I do."

"Hmph. Disagreeable as ever."

"And you can't come out and say what you mean, as ever."

Family.

Funny. I never planned on getting close to anyone.

But here we are.

Somehow, I found myself part of this crazy bunch. I found myself being a sort-of mentor. I found myself opening up, cracking jokes, helping people.

I found myself evidently _not_ keeping out of people's business.

I found myself a part of Little Wing, a civilian security firm.

And it wasn't such a bad thing.


	14. Volume 2 Epilogue

**Epilogue time! Well, minor setback aside, Volume 2's over and done with it. Leave a review and stay tuned for Volume 3!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 2

Photon Art Online

 **Epilogue**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Hey, kid, happy birthday!"

"Oh, haha! Thanks!"

I thanked the Little Wing member who greeted me as I walked through Clad 6. I had no idea who they were but I was still thankful, regardless.

It's only polite, right?

Yes, today was my birthday.

It didn't start out great, far from it.

Yesterday, I got into a fight with the boss because he threw away the gift I was gonna give to him.

Even though it was obviously a gift, wrapped and all, he still threw it away so quickly even though we were trying to stop him!

Ugh, just thinking about it makes me angry again! Who throws away a _gift_?!

But, I think I can forgive him this time.

I know my boss isn't the smartest of people, and he did have no idea it was a gift for him.

So I'm gonna be the big one for now. After all, he _did_ give me these nice earrings!

Then, we were assigned to guard duty on Neudaiz. _Boring_. I don't know if I should be thankful that monsters broke into the facility.

There, we met a Guardian named Lumia Waber.

Ugh, I know, right? Of all people, it had to be a stinking _Guardian_!

And she was so stuck-up too! She kept acting like she was better than us, and every second of it was infuriating!

And that's not all. We had to fight this giant two-headed dragon. Talk about a bad ending to a bad day.

But, in the end, we beat it. In fact, we beat it more easily than I thought. Must be because it was a test creature or something but I'm not gonna rain on my own parade.

Too bad Yut knocked himself out, though.

But we got to tease Lumia about her 'too cool' attitude so...

Maybe not a bad ending after all?

And after we got back, the best part of the day happened.

I thought we were being called in for causing problems but imagine my surprise when they were actually preparing a surprise _birthday party_!

And for the biggest surprise of all, it turned out it was _Boss's_ idea! And he even gave me a birthday present!

It was the last thing I'd ever expected from him, _that's_ for sure!

After that, we had fun, we ate great food, and opened more presents.

It was... one of the best days of my life.

I used to be just this kid who caused trouble and did nothing around here...

But now even people I didn't know were greeting me a happy birthday!

It's a little shocking how big a difference working a bit harder made in my life here in Little Wing.

I can still clearly remember when it all turned around.

It was the day I met my then-would-be-partner, kind-of-teacher, and best friend, Kara Draken.

It's almost been a month now since he joined our little outfit. He started off mean and stand-offish but...

Nah, he's still this guy who thinks he's cool by being quiet and wearing black. And he has a girl's name, heehee...

But he's been with me since then and I've had his support whether I succeeded at something or messed everything up.

So even if he's sometimes rude to me, annoys me, or calls other girls cute...

I'm still happy he's my partner!

"Hey, Emilia, got a sec?"

Oh, speak of the devil!

"Hmm? What's up?"

He crossed his arms and averted his eyes. It almost seemed like he was actually fidgeting.

I wonder what he wants?

"So, uhh... I didn't get a chance to say this before but... Happy Birthday."

I know it shouldn't have been a surprise. It was my birthday, after all.

But after the words left his mouth, I still felt a little tugging feeling from the bottom of my stomach.

I felt happy earlier, when everyone surprised me, and when boss gave me the gift.

I felt happy when we celebrated, and when everyone I passed by greeted me.

But this time, I felt a different kind of happy. Like, I couldn't stop a silly smile from forming on my face.

I don't understand why it's different when he greeted me but it's rare that my partner acts like this.

I can't afford to miss the chance to tease him!

"Oh? You always act so serious but... you actually have a cute side?"

"... Whatever, you annoying girl."

Look at him, still trying to be cool.

And hey, who exactly are you calling annoying?!

But, nevermind that. He did go out of his way to greet me. I'm sure it's been a surprise to him too. I've never actually told him my birthday, after all.

So maybe I can let this one slide.

"Anyway, I'll get you a proper gift later so, uh... hold on to that gun I gave you earlier for now."

"Huh? You mean this dirty old thing?"

"Hey, that's been through a lot with me. Don't call it dirty."

I summoned the dirty old gun and faked a grossed-out expression, holding the piece away from my body with two fingers.

But wait, I seem to recall him mentioning that he's planning on buying a new gun...

"You're just giving this to me so that you don't have to throw it away, aren't you?"

"Ye- I mean, no."

"You were about to say yes!"

"You can't prove that."

I was only trying to mess with him a little but teasing him is actually quite fun!

Too bad I couldn't get him mad, though.

"Like I said, that gun's got me through some tough times. I wasn't gonna throw it away."

"I know, I know, I was just kidding around."

"Tch. Troublesome kid."

"Who's the kid here?! I turned seventeen today!"

We were arguing but I was smiling all throughout. And I'm pretty sure I saw the corner of his lips twitch a little.

Heh.

I don't know why, but this all just feels... _right_.

"Anyway, if you don't want the gun, you can give it back."

"Nuh-uh! I'm keeping this one! You already gave it to me!"

"... just make up your mind, already..."

I just gave him the widest grin I could muster.

To be honest, I wouldn't even care if he didn't get me a proper present.

I wouldn't have cared if he didn't even greet me a happy birthday.

Those words he told me earlier...

'I got your back.'

Just him being there for me.

I think that alone beats any gift or greeting he could ever give me.


	15. Volume 3 Prologue

**Welp, I'm back. Just the prologue today, nothing special. Life happened, I dunno. Well, enjoy!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Volume 3 Cover Image:

drive@google@com/file/d/18oLhHpoGNBPPHeYaibZr22hlZDG5ESNW/view?usp=drivesdk

(Replace the @'s with dots. Dots are good.)

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 3

In A Virtual Reality Without My VisiPhone!

 **Prologue**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Good Morning! Another beautiful day to get some work done!"

The door to my room opened suddenly, and along with it, an awful noise before I was even fully awake.

I knew I locked that door but, somehow, this girl was still able to invade my privacy just like that.

"Wha, Emilia...? Damn it, it's too early for your nonsense..."

"Nonsense? Too early? What are you talking about? Haven't you heard the saying, the early worm gets the bird?"

It's the other way around, you imbecile!

I turned to face away from her and covered my face with my pillow.

Hopefully, it'll go away if I can't see it.

"Hey, get up! We've got some work to do!"

No luck.

The light immediately assaulted my eyes as the pillow was forcibly taken from me.

Ugh, it's times like these that I kinda miss the lazy Emilia.

It's been a week now since Emilia's birthday, and the difference it made in her is astounding, to say the least.

She's now the one pushing to go on missions, with me and sometimes Yut being dragged with her without a choice.

It's a change that was heavily welcomed by the entirety of Little Wing, and especially Kraz, but there's a thing called being too enthusiastic, you troublesome girl!

Either be lazy just right or not! No need to always go for the extremes! And stop pulling on me!

Just as I was about ready to ask for divine intervention, though...

"... you've been behaving differently since your birthday party, Emilia. Sitting in your room, looking at your earrings, smiling..."

"Woah, time out! I-I don't remember such a thing happening!"

"... happily humming while cleaning the gun Kara gave you..."

"Stop, s- _stop_! I don't like the way this conversation is headed...!"

Oh, praise thee, Lady Mika!

As Emilia continued to complain to Mika who suddenly developed a mischievous side, I started fixing my bed.

Now that I think about it, though, it's been a while since Mika showed up. I haven't seen her since Emilia and Kraz had that fight.

Of course, she must have greeted Emilia in private, though.

"What's not to like? Your happiness is my happiness."

"W-who said I was happy..."

"And not only your happiness, Emilia. The happiness of the entire Gurhal System, as well."

Putting aside the girl who wasn't fooling anybody, Mika just said something interesting.

Once again, I felt nothing but sincerity from Mika's tone. The kind that calms the soul and puts you at ease.

The motherly kind.

But still, the entire system, huh? She certainly isn't someone who plays things down.

"... hey, Mika. Not that I don't trust you but, why exactly are you helping us?"

"It is quite simple. You are all my children. My sons, my daughters. My family."

"Children? Family?"

"The Ancients created the humans but we did not create them from nothing. I am the vessel from which all of humanity was born."

So as it turns out, Mika is the great ancestor.

Yeah, it's that kind of day, huh?

"What, really? So if we, say, trace everything back to the start, then you'd be our great great... something grandmother?"

I'm sure it's more than a couple of great's but if I tell Emilia that then we'd be here all day.

But still, what Mika said was certainly interesting information. I guess that explains why she's so easy to trust.

Mika looked a little amused at Emilia's epileptic trees theory but smiled and nodded, nonetheless.

"Something like that, yes. So it's only natural that I would wish to protect you."

"Wow... They say there's nothing greater than a mother's love... Not that I'd know, but..."

"Indeed. I may only be a program now but I think that's exactly what it is."

The tender moment was interrupted however, when the door suddenly opened, yet again.

Seriously, have these people never heard of knocking?

Oblivious to my inner complaints, Yut came barging in.

"Hey, you two! Err, wait, I can smell Mika. Hey, you three!"

"Knock, _then_ enter! I swear, you never listen!"

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Take your own advice, you hypocrite!

As I was about to give this girl a piece of my mind, however, she suddenly looked affronted at Yut.

"And what do you mean you can 'smell' Mika?! She doesn't smell!"

It's probably just some more of Yut's mystical Kasch tracking but I'm not about to think that Emilia would catch on to that first.

This time, it was Yut's turn to look affronted.

"It's not like that! Whenever Mika's around, I smell something sweet, like honey."

For a second there, I thought Yut couldn't actually see Mika and was just basing on smell alone but I quickly dissolved that notion.

He's clearly heard her before and has also described her as a golden lady. Maybe not just scent, maybe all of the Kasch's senses are spiritually attuned?

That aside, said honey-smelling lady seemed to have recognized what Yut was going on about.

"The scent of the Tethi..."

"What's a Tethi?"

"A flower I liked once, long ago..."

Just as I was about to say I've never heard of such a flower before, my vision suddenly changed.

For a moment, we were standing in a bright field of unfamiliar but beautiful golden-white flowers.

And just as fast as it happened, we were back in my room.

"W-what happened?! I saw something... Was that you, Mika?"

Mika nodded in affirmation.

What did she do?

Image projection?

I could understand Emilia seeing the flowers, since she is Mika's host...

But why me too? Because of our supposed link? Yut didn't seem like he got the vision so it's possible.

"There are no tethis in this time, but perhaps my spirit carries their scent, even if it is no more than numbers in my program."

"Hmm, nope, no good, I can't smell anything..."

"Well, nevermind that, for now. What did you come here for, Yut?"

Yut turned towards me as he heard my question, having been blankly watching our exchange.

I'm pretty sure he didn't come here to talk about flowers, after all.

"Right, Kraz sent me to get you. He said he had something for us to do!"

"Well, what are we waiting for? He doesn't like being kept waiting!"

I had half a mind to ask this girl if she ate something funny during her birthday. Since when was she _this_ eager to please the boss?

But that can wait. We have a job to do. We've been on a great streak lately, we best keep up the good work.

It couldn't hurt to earn some extra, after all.

"Alright, let's go."


	16. V3 Ch1: The Phantastic Four Plus One

**Chapter 1, here we go!** **Longest one yet!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 3

In A Virtual Reality Without My VisiPhone!

 **Chapter 1**

 **The Phantastic** **Four Plus One**

 **ooo000ooo**

 **I**

 **ooo000ooo**

The office's doors slid open as the three of us approached.

"Hm? Oh, hey, it's you guys."

Surprisingly enough, or perhaps not, Red was inside the room, hanging around by the boss's desk.

The boss himself, however, was noticeably absent.

"Red? Kraz called you too?"

"Unfortunately. Hey, who's this?"

The redhead lazily jerked her thumb towards Yut's direction.

Ah, right, they haven't met yet. One way or another the missions that included them never coincided with both of them appearing, which is odd but nothing major.

"This is Yut. He's a Kasch. He's been with us for a few missions."

Emilia helpfully answered, saving me the effort of doing it myself.

Yut only tilted his head slightly, seemingly pondering something before a big smile graced his face.

"Ah! I was confused at first, but I sense a warrior within you! For someone so _young_ , that is _very_ impressive!"

Oh boy.

Yut had _nothing_ but good intentions. I'm _sure_ of it.

"... what exactly do you mean by _that_ , jungle boy?"

"Hm? I was just amazed. You must have worked really hard to be able join Little Wing despite your age. You cannot be older than _twelve_!"

" _Prrft_...!"

Twelve might be pushing it a lil' bit.

Red's eye twitched once. And then twice.

Emilia, it would be tremendously helpful if you didn't just stand there covering your mouth.

Any violence was halted, thankfully, when the doors to the CEO's office slid open, and out came Kraz and Ursula.

He must have noticed the dangerous aura from the shortstick but decided not to comment on it.

"Heya, boss. You called?"

Looks like Emilia managed to snap out of her not-laughing state, and greeted Kraz.

"Perfect timing. The news is just about to start."

News?

I didn't take Kraz for a news guy...

That said, Chelsea was also watching the news some time ago and it turned about to be about Sky Clad.

So it must be a pretty important matter if Kraz was tuning in.

And I was right.

As it happens, groups of people have been mysteriously disappearing throughout Gurhal. So many have been going missing that the authorities are having trouble keeping up.

And worse yet, the people who _did_ got found have absolutely _no memory_ of what happened. There doesn't seem to be a pattern among the ones that went missing as well.

As of now, the only suspect is the man that was rumored to have attacked the Kasch village weeks ago. With no clear motive behind the abductions, and the man's identity a giant question mark, everyone's hands are tied.

But we knew who attacked the Kasch. Or rather, we knew what he _looked_ like.

A white haired man wearing black clothing. And is also presumably housing an Ancient. One who isn't as benevolent as Mika.

Besides the Kasch who got attacked, only me and Emilia are the ones who know of this info.

"Very informative. But what's that got to do with _us_?"

"Remember that little invader incident we had here?"

I remember. The day they had that fight.

It all feels like such a long time ago.

Emilia nodded in response. Kraz took it as an invitation to continue.

"Turns out all the people that attacked us were ones that went missing. And none 'o them remembered anything, afterwards."

If Wurley Kokov, the guy we had to track down before, had no memory of what he was doing after snapping out of the Ancient guy's mind control then it would make sense that those invaders would be in the same scenario.

If what Yut said about them being led by the same black wearing guy is true, of course.

Though the other point, the attackers being abducted people, was definitely news to me. And it's what caught most of my attention.

If that was the case, then these kidnapped people are being used to do the black clad man's dirty work, as was the case with Wurley Kokov and a few others.

Just like back in the Kasch village.

"Are you saying that they're somehow related to the people that attacked the Kasch?"

Kraz turned to look at me because of my inquiry, giving me a slight nod. By the looks of it, what he's implying was merely just speculation.

"Something's happening, _that's_ for sure. But it gets even better. And more _personal_..."

If he wasn't serious earlier, then Kraz definitely was now, even dropping his normally lazy manner of talking.

"We sent some of our people to try and find these missing people. Well, they're not gonna be reporting anything any time soon 'cause now, they've all gone missing as well."

I've had a sneaking suspicion that that was the case but to actually _hear_ it is a different matter, entirely.

It's like expecting a powerful impact and actually _receiving_ the hit.

"It's possible that our personnel are being used to commit crimes. Whether they remember it or not, if someone from our firm is involved, our reputation could be ruined."

Ursula pointed out, looking concerned over the entire situation. With how business-minded she is, of course PR is one of the things she'd be worried about.

That's not to say I thought she wasn't concerned about the missing personnel, though. Loyalty is one of Little Wing's strong points, so the retrieval of the abductees is surely on top of the list.

Avoiding a PR disaster is just extra incentive to take care of this problem at the root.

"So you're sending us to find out what's going on. That right?"

Red suddenly spoke up. She hasn't said anything since the little chat with Yut, so excuse me if she caught me a bit off-guard with her directness. Thankfully she decided to let that incident go for the moment.

That said, now that Red pointed it out, it was obvious why all four of us were called in.

Emilia and I had a great track record with missions lately, after all, with Yut coming along with most of them.

And that Inhelt mission we did with Red was a great success too.

If there's a team that can handle such a case, then it would probably be us.

Of course, that is, if these three could avoid causing additional problems along the way.

"'Fraid so. We know where we lost contact but right now, you're the only ones we can send in after them. 'Course, I have to ask. Will you go?"

Kraz turned again to ask me, this time, on whether or not we would accept the mission. If he's giving us a choice then this really must be that dangerous.

I looked around at my party mates, and they were all awaiting my answer. Even Red, who liked doing her own thing, was uncharacteristically deferring to me, or at least I think she was.

I know I've said multiple times that I was the team leader but it felt more of a babysitter and problem children group before, a ragtag bunch.

But if this time they're all this eager then hey, what do you expect me to do?

"We'll go."

Kraz let out a relieved sigh. Seems like he really had his hands tied.

"I _do_ wish there some other way. Feels bad giving you all our dirty work."

"Don't you worry, boss! We'll find 'em for ya!"

"Who put the zippity in your dooh dah? I was jus' starting to get used to yer whinin' about work!"

Kraz, who was flabbergasted by Emilia's attitude about work, immediately retorted, slipping back into his casual accent.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, I say. Who knows how long this change will last.

"Heh! That's the old me! With my trusty partner, things are looking up!"

"... trusty, huh?"

Emilia's unintentional disregard of our two other teammates aside, I can't help but feel a small sinking feeling deep inside from her words just now.

I really just hope she doesn't jinx it and return back to her unmotivated ways.

Kraz didn't seem to mind, though, instead looking pleasantly surprised by Emilia's eagerness. With how long this girl has been in his care, this must have been the first time she was this motivated for an extended period of time.

"Glad to hear it. Well then, I'm counting on you four. Just be careful out there."

"You got it!"

With the briefing over, the four of us got out of the office.

As soon as we did, though, Emilia's smile slowly morphed into a grimace, looking like she was lost in thought.

Was her bravado earlier just a front?

"Hey, you two go ahead to the ship."

"... why?"

Fair point, but I would appreciate it if you didn't question it.

"Got it! I'll show you the ship, Red! I'm sure you'll find it fascinating! I know _I_ did!"

"Hey, stop treating me like a kid! I'm _older_ than you, you moron! Hey! Come back here and listen to me..!"

An intervention, thank the Holy Light.

Well, it looks like they're hitting it off just fine.

As soon as the those two ran off far enough, I returned my attention back to my partner.

She was still deep in thought but she seemed to at least notice that the two went ahead.

"Alright, spill. What's on your mind?"

"Eh? Oh, um. I was just thinking about what we watched on the news..."

"The news? What about it?"

"You see... The attack on Yut's village, the attack here on Clad 6... I was thinking that the man in black was behind _both_ incidents."

The man in black.

The mysterious Ancient host who cleaned the floor with me and Emilia in five or ten seconds tops.

It's certainly not a coincidence that he was behind the attack on the Kasch, and is now being suspected of being the cause of the disappearances.

And if Yut's senses were to be believed, he was also the one who orchestrated the attack here on the colony before.

In all cases, he needed to be close to maintain the mind control effect. So if we succeed in locating the missing Little Wing members...

It brings us to an unsettling realization.

"So what you're saying is, there's a good chance we encounter that guy again in this mission..."

"Yeah... knowing what he did before, it's... scary."

Emilia, who was so full of energy and enthusiasm earlier, was now pale as can be, cold sweat trailing down her face.

Since our battle, if you can call it that, with the man in black was so short, it's still a mystery what he can really do.

Even with Emilia's recent improvement, and the extra firepower we were bringing along in Yut and Red, it's still hard to feel confident about our chances if we really do encounter him.

"But if we just stand around here, more people will go missing! A-as scary as it is, we should at least _try_ and rescue the ones who were kidnapped!"

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Emilia suddenly spoke, again sporting those eyes full of determination.

She's still obviously scared, but this kind of resolve isn't something I've seen from her more than a few times.

Heh. Maybe that birthday party really did turn things around for this troublesome girl.

"If that's what you want to do, then I'm with you all the way, Emilia."

Emilia spent a few seconds looking slightly surprised before turning my way with a wide grin.

"Heehee. Thanks, Kara. You really are my trusty partner, huh?"

"It's not like I had a choice but... yeah, sure."

She just stared blankly at me for a while before wordlessly going ahead on her own.

What? Was it something I said?

 **ooo000ooo**

 **II**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Brr! I'm freezing! W-why couldn't those people disappear somewhere warmer?!"

Emilia complained out loud as the harsh cold air of the area assaulted us. She was shivering quite a bit.

As soon as me and her caught up to Yut and Red, we immediately departed for Moatoob. The region we were traveling to was a snowy area, so I gave a suggestion to dress warmer.

Since my coat was thick enough for the cold, I was fine with just some gloves to keep my hands steady. Red, meanwhile, changed into longer pants.

My idiot partner, though. She had the sense to swap out her outfit for a thick hoodie, but she still stuck with her skirt. So really, she's just reaping what she's sown.

And on the other hand, Yut...

"It's not _that_ cold."

"Are you _kidding_ me?! How can you be dressed like _that_ and _not_ be cold?!"

He was still rocking his light tribal gear. Besides the poncho thingie he was wearing, all he had was a sleeveless shirt and loose pants.

Makes you wonder what kind of shenanigans those Kasch get up to for them to be _this_ cold resistant.

Yut grinned in response to Emilia's question/complaint, and puffed up his chest.

"I'm used to it!"

"This is beyond getting used to! I'm starting to sprout icicles, for crying out loud!"

"Geez, keep it down, will ya, bolthead? You'd think a rescue party would be quieter."

And you'd think Red was trying to settle things down but that mischievous grin she has isn't doing her any favors.

"Ugh, when are you ever gonna let that name go?!"

"When I feel like it. And stop complaining, you were the moron that thought a skirt would keep you warm."

"Mor...! A-at least my head doesn't look like a maple leaf!"

"Don't bring my hair into this. Are you asking for it, blondie?!"

"Emilia, it is not honorable to fight with with a _child_!"

"A _child_?! Don't you start, jungle boy!"

Children, _please_.

Well, in any case, it's best if we start moving now before Emilia freezes her legs off.

I started walking ahead of the group but before I could take more than three steps forward, Yut dropped his smile and held his arm out in front of me.

"Wait, someone's coming."

I was about to question his statement but sure enough, there were footsteps that were slowly but surely getting louder. Which means whoever's coming is approaching us.

Well, that'll teach me to ever doubt Yut's mystical magical sensor.

"...? Hmph. I was wondering who was causing such a commotion in a remote location. I might have guessed."

The now clearly feminine figure spoke in a familiar cool voice.

And as she approached further, I started recognizing her features.

Long brown hair, staff, Guardians uniform...

"Lumia, was it?"

She nodded to answer my question, inspecting our little group. Her gaze stopped on Red.

"Who's this?"

"Crimson Hunter Red, Little Wing's top mercenary. So you're with the Guardians?"

"Correct. Lumia Waber, Guardians Intelligence Division."

Hold on. Red's crazy talented, but top mercenary? Come on. Even Lumia didn't give any signs of believing that.

And now that I look at it, she didn't even react to that childish redundant name.

Well, at least she didn't think Red was some tagalong kid. _That_ couldn't have ended well...

"Waber...? Interesting."

Red seemed to have an idea on what that name means. Well, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone on the system that doesn't.

"Wait, hold on a minute! What's a Guardian like you even doing here?"

Here comes the resident Anti-Guardian. Really, she could have asked that with less aggressiveness.

But that was still better than before when she was hurling out insults left and right. She must have remembered the little favor Lumia did for us.

"That is none of your concern."

"Of course it isn't. I probably can't even comprehend your shady, mysterious Guardians missions. _Oooohhh_."

Emilia started doing this weird thing with her hands while rolling her eyes. Clearly, she's a child.

I'm glad Lumia isn't biting on it. She's being the mature one in this. How delightful.

In any case, we don't have any time for this tomfoolery.

"That's enough, Emilia. We have missing people to find. Yut, Red."

I called out to my other teammates, and turned to Lumia.

"If you'll excuse us."

"Wait. Did you say missing people?"

She stopped us, a hint of surprise on her normally stoic face.

Is she here on her own rescue mission too? Before I could ask, though, Emilia beat me to the punch.

"Yeah, there's been a lot of that going around lately. Hey, if you see someone from Little Wing, let our office know. I'm sure they'd be glad to hear about it. Now, come on, come on, let's _go_!"

"Hey, quit pushing!"

I counter-pushed the now rushing Emilia, who was earlier content with just taunting the Guardian.

Lumia regarded our antics with an indifferent look. What a surprise.

"If you're quite done. It's not safe here. As a Guardian, I cannot permit you to go any further on your own. I will accompany you."

"You'll what now?"

We stared at Lumia's still stoic face, wondering if we heard right. She went from refusing to tell us why she's here to saying she'll accompany us.

And this change came from when I mentioned missing people.

How suspicious.

"It will be more efficient. Besides, I can't think of a reason why you should object."

"Not wanting you to butt in is reason enough! We don't need any help!"

"Need it or not, you have it. Did you really think I'd take no for an answer?"

Lumia, undeterred by my partner's objections, allowed herself a small smirk.

I don't know why she's being this pushy. This isn't typical Guardians protocol. Something's going on around here.

Emilia grit her teeth in frustration for a short while, before finally relenting.

"Sigh. A girl can dream, can't she? Fine... Come on, guys."

"Excellent. Let us be on our way."

"... why does it feel like things have gone from bad to worse..."

And she trudged along forward, with a dejected Emilia trailing behind. Yut followed shortly, keeping strangely quiet.

Odd. He knows who Lumia is, why's he so on guard?

"... So that's Lumia, huh? You didn't tell me she's the Hero's sister."

"It didn't seem important at the time."

"Sure, whatever."

Red threw up her hands in full agree-to-disagree fashion, walking slowly beside me.

"She's her own person, aside from the Hero's sister. Lumia's... _difficult_ but she isn't as stuck-up as Emilia says."

"As if I'd believe a word from _bolthead_. But you have a point, I guess."

That little chat over with, Red went quiet for a short while, before starting up again, her trademark grin present.

"So, she's cute, huh?"

"Again with this. First it's Emilia, now it's you. What is it with you girls and cute?"

"Relax, I was just askin'. You seemed like the kind to like the mature type."

"I can't be bothered with this..."

Red snickered, the little troll.

I was being honest on what I said about Lumia, but still, she's getting my suspicions up.

What's a single Guardian doing here in such a far-off area? And why the sudden "offer" to accompany us?

I have a feeling we were going to find out soon.

"Hey, what's with you, Yut? You've been staring up ahead this whole time."

"... Be careful, I sense danger ahead... It feels like what happened three years ago... No, this is different."

Three years ago?

No, that can't be right. Three years ago was the SEED invasion.

There's no way that's what he's sensing, but what's with this sinking feeling in my gut?

"Everything you say always turns out spot on, so maybe you could just spare us the bad stuff."

"I can't, Emilia. I can only sense the danger, not what is causing the danger. Stay alert."

"Sheesh, you have a way with words, don't you? Well, whatever. I just hope they show up quickly so we can get this over with."

What irresponsible thinking.

Still, it would be wise to follow Yut's suggestion. Emilia's right in that Yut has a great track record in sensing threats.

The trip was quiet, for a change. Emilia cut down on the complaints, so I'm okay with this.

"Quite a narrow pathway, though..."

"This was a former base, so these pathways are by tactical choice. Keep alert for traps."

"Traps? Uh, hey, think it's too late to turn back?"

Emilia sheepishly, and I hope jokingly, suggested in response to Lumia's answer. Thankfully, the Guardian elected to ignore her.

Still, traps? Knowing my luck, we're bound to activate some sooner or later, I just _know_ it.

"Watch out!"

Yut suddenly shouted out, brandishing his spear to block and throw away a lunging monster.

Well, no time like the present.

"Hey, what kind of..."

Red started as she summoned her double saber, but trailed off in surprise. Her face was painted with shock.

What, what's with the monster? Lumia had the same look on her face, while Emilia looked just about ready to panic.

"I- _impossible_!"

"SEED?!"

 **ooo000ooo**

 **III**

 **ooo000ooo**

"The SEED?! How is this _possible_?!"

Lumia shouted out in shock as the insect-like, clawed monsters slowly approached the one Yut threw away.

I have no idea how these things got here but right now, we have more important matters than finding out!

I held out my arms and summoned my new weapon, feeling the weight of it's conjured form immediately.

Take aim, and fire!

The charged shot blazed through the air and hit one of the SEED dead on, knocking it away a fair distance.

This caused the others to start attacking.

"Hey, is that a rifle? When did you get that? **[Rafoie]**!"

Emilia asked in wonder as she fired off an explosion at the charging monsters, scattering their little group formation.

Since I gave my old gun to Emilia, I went to get a replacement, but this baby caught my eye as I was browsing the weapons shop.

As evidenced by our battles against the Reol Badia and Alrerazgohg, I didn't have enough firepower for myself.

Emilia can do some damage with her Technics, Yut is crazy strong physically, and Red is straight-up deadly with her speed.

So I figured I should get some extra _oomph_.

"Chatter can wait. We must eliminate the Seed immediately! **[Grants]**!"

"Hey, relax, ice lady! We got this covered!"

Red flew in and quickly took out two Seed-Forms with a quick spinning combo, leaping away before the monsters even fell down.

I fired off a quick round at an approaching monster, stunning it long enough to receive a face full of freight train Yut.

"Emilia, 9 o' clock!"

"Huh, what?"

" **[Diga]**!"

The snowy slab of rock conjured from Lumia's tech hit the lunging Seed-Form, throwing it away from my partner.

I took aim and fired a shot at the dazed Seed, the photon bullet piercing the clawed monster's head.

"A-ah, thanks, guys..."

"Pay better attention! You could have been seriously injured!"

"Geez, I was just thanking her, what's gotten her all riled up...? Whatever, **[Razonde]**!"

The bolt of lightning stuck true, obliterating an unfortunate Seed-Form who happened to be in its path.

The remaining ones turned to attack the source, but a speartip suddenly burst out from one of the monsters' chest, instantly ending its life.

And then a red figure dropped down and sliced the last SEEDS to oblivion.

"Well, that's the last of 'em!"

Red dusted her hands off as she dismissed her favorite weapon, looking quite satisfied with her work.

Everyone was quiet for a while as the momentary high from the battle wore off.

That certainly took a bit out of us. What the hell were the SEED doing in a place like this?

The SEED were successfully sealed three years ago. There were absolutely no confirmed sightings of them during that time.

Until now.

"Something isn't right. The SEED are disappearing!"

Yut exclaimed, staring at a spot that I could have _sworn_ had a dead SEED lying on it a moment ago.

Sure enough, I turned towards the other corpses and they were quickly fading away, leaving absolutely no traces behind.

What in the _world_?

"Yut, are they really gone? Can you sense what happened? Anything?"

"No, nothing. It's like they just stopped _existing_. It's puzzling..."

Well if Yut's sorcery can't explain this, then nothing can. If they were warped away, then there would be photon residues that I have no doubt Yut can detect.

But they, in his words, stopped existing altogether. What _does_ that? And _why_?

A troubled Lumia squatted down, inspecting the snowy grounds that were earlier filled with SEED corpses.

"This is troubling. The SEED don't do this when they die... Something's going on around here."

"You're telling me! Nobody ever said anything about fighting SEED-forms!"

"I don't know any more than you! The SEED were contained three years ago, this makes no sense whatsoever!"

"Hmph. Looks like _somebody_ botched the containment job."

Emilia scoffed while inspecting a nearby wall, looking completely focused but still somehow managing to antagonize the Guardian.

"My brother... My brother would _not_ make such a mistake!"

I was taken out of my musings by Lumia's sudden outburst, looking utterly indignant.

There it is again, mention of her brother set her off.

But I can somewhat understand. It's unlikely the Great Hero Ethan Waber would mess that kind of job up.

"Knock it off, Emilia. That'll do us no good. Let's move forward."

"Fine, whatever. I'm more worried about this wall than her brother, anyway."

The wall? Did this idiot finally snap?

"Why the _wall_? Are you right in the _head_ , blondie?"

"Don't call me names, you midget! Just come see for yourself! Doesn't something about it look _off_ to you?"

Red looked thoroughly confused, and to be honest, I was too. But it wasn't just Emilia who found the wall captivating, I noticed. Yut was also staring at that particular wall.

"I don't get it. It looks normal enough."

"Don't you feel it? Its... _different_."

"Yut's right! Look! They did a good job camouflaging it, but it's just a holographic projection!"

Say what now?

It looks like a damn snowy wall, how did she come to that conclusion?

"... How can you tell?"

Lumia cautiously asked, looking as disbelieving as me and Red. But Yut isn't denying it. Could this lazy kid actually be right?

"Look closer! The shift in the color pattern's just _too_ regular to be natural. With a holograph like this, complex breaks in the feed aren't exactly a surprise. Folks, I say we found our missing people!"

Emilia's explanation was met with complete silence. She just stood there looking proud of herself but started being awkward as nobody spoke.

"Um, is it something I said?"

"N-no, carry on."

She shrugged and started poking around the projection, with Yut assisting her, leaving me, Red, and Lumia gawking.

"Hey, hey, Kara. What just _happened_? I didn't know bolthead knew all those words."

"It's like talking to a different person. Who _is_ that girl?"

"Someone very demented."

"While I don't doubt that... That hardly explains the analytical prowess she just displayed. It's _outstanding_."

I don't know any more than you. I met that problem child several weeks ago.

But that makes it, what, the _third_ time now? That she just rambles on and leaves us all speechless with some kind of intellectual rant?

Seriously, who _is_ Emilia?

"Ahem! If you three are done _gossiping_ , we've got some investigating to do! Me and Yut are going with, or without you! Honestly... Huh?"

A clicking sound echoed throughout the empty mountains, filling me with a dark sense of foreboding.

What was that Lumia was saying about traps, again?

Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to ask Emilia about what in Gurhal she just did, as the ground started shaking, and a distant rumbling began serenading our ears.

"Uh-oh, earthquakes and snowy mountains are a bad mix! Err, I mean, oops. Um, Tee-hee?"

"You _idiot_...!"

That was all we were able to say before a massive wave of hard lumped snow began falling down from the top of the mountain.

"R-run!"

I feel like that did not have a need to be said.

We immediately took off in whichever direction we could go, in this case, backwards.

"W-waahh, I am so done with this stupid mission and this stupid mountain!"

"Stop whining and just run! Damn it, this is Inhelt all over again!"

"Hey, _Red_ was the one who triggered the trap last time!"

"Well, congratulations! Here have an award! The get flattened by an avalanche award!"

"Okay, okay, I get it! I'm sorryyyy!"

"Haha! Playing in the snow is a blast!"

Thankfully, Emilia managed to keep ahead this time. Yut kept pace with her easily, sounding like he's having the time of his life.

Damn that coldproof jungle boy.

"A blast, right. I can't believe these people..."

Lumia trailed them a short distance away, looking mildly irritated. And Red on the other hand...

"I thought you'd be faster than _that_ , Crimson Hunter...!"

"Sh-shut up! Are you really doing this _now_?!"

You bet I am. Now that Emilia reminded me about that Inhelt fiasco from before, I'm going to milk this situation for all I can.

We're going to die anyway.

"It's gaining on us! Carry me and do that flying thing again!"

"Hey, stop! I don't know how I did that before so cut it out! _Gerroff_!"

"That's irrelevant! If you don't, we're gonna be buried in snow!"

"What an ironic end for the Crimson Hunter..."

"You _fu_ -!"

Before Red could complete her unsophisticated response, however, the ground beneath my feet suddenly gave way, and before I knew it, me and Red were falling.

The last scene I saw were the running backs of my team and Lumia.

And the last thing I heard?

" _Kyaaa_?!"

 **ooo000ooo**

 **IV**

 **ooo000ooo**

Damn, that smarts. What the hell _happened_?

I pushed myself up from the soft, firm snow, which must have cushioned my fall, with a soft grumble.

"Oh, you're up. Good morning to you, sleeping beauty."

Someone said from beside me, sounding absolutely bored with a bit of a shiver in their voice.

Ah, right. I almost forgot that Red was with me when the ground suddenly fell apart. The little troll must have fallen as well.

"Well, excuse _me_ , princess."

"Don't make me regret keeping you from freezing, you ass."

Keeping me from freezing? I don't see a fire anywhere, or anything she can use to start one, for that matter.

Red must have seen the confusion on my face. She smirked a little and summoned a small metallic sphere with tiny glowing wings.

A Tech-Mag, I realized. Tiny robots that can be used to channel photon energy, though on a lower magnitude as opposed to wands and rods. It's a convenient tool for mercenaries that have a low aptitude for Technics.

"I cast Shifta on us with this little fella. He's expecting a thank you."

"... I didn't know you could use Technics."

"Yeah? Well that's about half of the techs I can use."

I wonder what the other one is.

In any case, Shifta is a fire elemental tech that raises the user's attack power. It can also extend to a nearby ally.

To use it as a heat source is actually pretty creative. I've never seen Red cast it before, though.

Well, that's not important right now.

"Did you contact the others already?"

"No, my comms aren't working. Must have been damaged from the fall."

So, Emilia and the others still doesn't know what happened to us. I should probably check if they were able to escape the avalanche.

I tapped my earpiece, and static assaulted my ears. It cleared out after a while, but seems like the signal here, wherever here is, is pretty weak.

"Emilia? Emilia, do you hear me?"

"... ra? _Kara_?! Is that _you_?! You're _alive_?! Yut, c'mere, it's _Kara_!"

" _Aha_! I _told_ you, Emilia! True warriors don't die _that_ easily!"

"Can it, Yut! I didn't _think_ for a second that he died!"

"You looked like you were about to cry when you were digging through the snow!"

"Don't listen to him, Kara, I did _nothing_ of the sort!"

Well, that's just about what I expected. I guess they were worried about me. I could feel a smile tugging at the corner of my lips, the thought giving me some sort of warm feeling inside. Strange.

"Wow, so what am I, chopped liver?"

"Huh? Is that Red? Oh, good, she's okay too. Didn't need _that_ sorta thing in my conscience, _that's_ for sure!"

" _Tsk tsk tsk_. Is that how you speak to someone who saved your boyfriend's sorry ass?"

Hey.

" _Hey_! I told you he's not! My! Boyfriend!"

"Huh? Kara _isn't_ your friend? And he _isn't_ a boy?"

What.

" _Snrk_?! Dude, you never told me you weren't a boy..."

"Wait, what the _heck_ , Yut?! Of course, he's a friend! And of course he's a boy!"

"But you said he wasn't your boyfriend..."

"He _isn't_! He's a _boy_ and he's a _friend_ , but he's not my _boyfriend_!"

"I... _wuh_?"

"Ahahaha, oh _man_! You're alright, jungle boy."

Oh great they've started again. At this point, what did I even expect?

But to be fair, the other things aside, Red _did_ save me from being a popsicle so I'm thankful for that.

In any case, it's best we try to regroup.

"Emilia, where are you now? And where's Lumia?"

"Eh? Oh! Um, we're in this mine-looking place that was behind that holographed wall. There's pipes and metal everywhere. Lumia went to scout ahead."

"A mine? Doesn't sound like something the Moatoob Trade Alliance would put there."

"Hmmm..."

Emilia seemed like she's into something. I urged her to continue.

"The logic pattern in that holograph's photon feed... It's just like the ones in Inhelt's lab. You think this installation might have something to do with Inhelt?"

"Inhelt? I don't like accusing paying clients but... we can't rule it out."

"Yeah. It's hard to imagine logic patterns matching up like this by coincidence. It's really suspicious. Hey, Lumia's back. Find anything?"

"No. There's nothing indicating who might have built this place. No sign of the missing people, either. We'll have to keep looking further in."

"Why is it that what we're looking for always further in? Sigh, on we go, I guess."

"Hmm? Is that your teammates on the other line?"

"Kara, here. Yeah it's me. Red's with me too."

"It's good to know you're safe then. Keep your comms online. Regrouping should be a priority."

"Understood."

Lumia sounded a little relieved. She still sounded stoic about the whole matter but at least she acknowledged our safety.

I turned off the comms and took a look around. Nothing but snow and ice covering everything. But there are a few metal pipes peeking out of the frozen areas.

Which must mean we may be close to the area the others were currently at.

"You two are really close, huh?"

I was brought out of my musings by Red, who walked past me before before I noticed her talking.

"What?"

"You and Emilia, I mean."

Me and Emilia?

On one hand, this must be the first time I heard her refer to Emilia without a nickname of any sort.

And for the other, that was _completely_ out of left field.

"What are you talking about?"

"... nothing, forget about it. Let's just get out of this frozen dump."

Red didn't stop walking, so I had to quickly move. Getting separated further won't do us any favors. And Red's comms were damaged, so I didn't want to risk losing her.

I'm sure she can handle herself just fine. She'd been going solo for a long time, after all. Call my concern a form of professional courtesy.

The caves were quite bigger than I thought, but the metal areas were becoming more frequent as we went on so hopefully, we were on the right track.

Red kept up the Shifta throughout the entire trek. Even as we encountered some hostiles. Thankfully, there weren't any more SEED.

"Red, Naval, 9 o' clock."

Red immediately turned left to swat away the attacking quadruped, flinging it all the way to the opposite wall.

I raised my shield to block an attack from another Naval, and finished it off with a saber slash.

Navals weren't very strong individually, but they always attack in groups.

Red finished off the remaining ones on her side, letting out a huff of air that instantly condensed.

" **[Shifta]**."

The newly re-summoned Tech Mag hummed in response to Red's casting, and the now-familiar sensation of heat enveloped our bodies once more, with the earlier one starting to fade.

She's been casting that tech non-stop now. And although it's a low cost one, continuous use can't be good, especially if she has low aptitude.

"... How are you holding up?"

"Fine? Why?"

"You've been keeping Shifta active since we fell."

Red raised an eyebrow at first, before raising her palms up with a smirk.

"What, were you _worried_ for me? Aw, that's sweet of you."

"Quite frankly? Yes."

" _Eh_?"

I'm not sure if Red didn't expect such an answer or was simply not used to it but I can at least tell she was caught off guard.

She blinked a few times, examining my face closely. I stayed neutral.

"Oh. You're serious."

"Yeah."

"... _pfft_! Hahaha, good one."

Wha? This _kid_!

Seeing my annoyed, irritated, and possibly hostile expression, Red threw up her hands in surrender.

"Woah, woah, chill, man! I get it. It's a bit tiring, but I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Red went on again.

"C'mon. Blondie's probably hysterical by now. Seriously, this is the first time I've seen you without her around."

Come to think of it, she's actually right. Huh. I guess it's true that you wouldn't notice how much time you've been spending with someone until someone points it out to you.

We've been partners for so long, I might be starting to get used to it. I'm still on the fence on whether or not that's a good thing.

"Hey. Hey! One mention of bolthead and you're already daydreaming?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry."

"Seriously... You two idiots are _perfect_ for each other."

"Just drop it, shortie."

"...! Ah, whatever. You're actually older than me anyway."

I was about to retort but then I remembered that I actually _was_ older than her. At this point, I'm not even surprised that I'm mixing stuff up anymore.

"Hey, there's a ladder here."

Red pointed to the ladder that lead to a well-lit metal passage. There didn't seem to be any obstructions in the way, so a warm draft was emanating from it.

Well, that's infinitely better than this frozen death trap.

"Well, what are you waiting for? You go first!"

"Why don't _you_?"

"What, and give you a free view of my ass? Tsk, _men_."

"If you think I'd get excited over a _kid's_ ass then you're _way_ off base."

"I told you. I'm seventeen!"

"Which is one year younger than the legal age."

"Not in Neudaiz, it isn't. And besides, doesn't that make you _more_ excited?"

What kind of degenerate do you think I am?

I felt my face resting on my hand before I even realized I was groaning. If asking her if she was fine is what set off this hurricane of trolling then I regret everything.

I think I'm losing hair dealing with this girl. Of all the people to get stuck with...

"Fine, I'll go first. Just don't accidentally grope me, or I'm telling bolthead."

It just had to be _Red_.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **V**

 **ooo000ooo**

Upon ascending through the ladder, we found ourselves in a lab-like place that was by far nowhere near the area Emilia had described.

In fact, the area looked eerily similar to the labs of Inhelt. The one we had to clear of Astarks.

I really don't like being suspicious of a former or current client but...

"Say, this place looks familiar."

Red wondered aloud, looking over the place.

We didn't get to do anything further after that. Several security robots started charging towards us, clearly on not peaceful terms.

As we got ready to intercept, the spiderbots, reminiscent of the ones we fought back in the Inhelt mission, started blasting us with fire projectiles.

I quickly summoned my shield to block, while Red just leapt out of the way, and immediately dived towards the machines, double saber in hand.

I dismissed my trusty shield, replacing them with my twin sabers, and followed Red's lead.

The robots, despite their destructive potential, weren't very tough against an all-out physical assault. They were decimated in no time.

Of course. As customary with these types of robots, they're equipped with the ever annoying self-destruct feature, lighting everything around them on fire. _That_ was fun.

"Sheesh. What the heck are they guarding back there? _That_ was a total blast."

"You're into _puns_ now?"

"Don't be a hater, I'm on _fire_ right now!"

"Stop. You're _this_ close to making me do what those bots want and just turn back."

Red snickered aloud and went on her merry way, picking apart any additional enemies that crawled out of the works.

Well, she's certainly spirited. Guess those continuous Shiftas really did take a toll on her.

I followed her closely, using my rifle to snipe some bots that weren't interested in a melee with the mentally unstable but admittedly skilled redhead.

It's just a little bit worrying, though. These security robots aren't doing so hot on the security part of the job. The only thing they've accomplished is being a dead giveaway that there's something to find here.

The best way to hide something is to not hide it all.

Of course, it was also possible that I've spoken too soon.

Red and I simultaneously jumped away from our previous location, which was instantly bombarded by a pair of missiles. The ground remained a charred black from the explosion.

"Woah, was that a _missile_? That's... pretty cool, actually."

"Why are you complimenting the enemy... they're _robots_."

With a this, two big humanoid synths with large feet and rocket launchers for arms landed in our path. They looked like those mecha things those Neudaizians were obsessed to.

Whatever. Looks like we got our work cut out for us.

Wasting no time, Red took the headstart and ran towards one, deflecting the synths' bullets by spinning her double saber, a very impressive feat.

" **[Shifta]**!"

Red's Tech Mag appeared, glowed fiery crimson, and vanished in a flash.

One of the synths attempted to stomp at her, which, predictably did not work. Red leapt up with a rising slash from her rarely seen twin sabers, dodging an awkward grab attempt and stepping on the synth's head, flipping down to the back.

A maneuver which managed to draw one of the synths to chase her, effectively changing this into two 1v1 fights, which is _highly_ favorable for us.

The other synth fired another missile at me, which I countered with a charged rifle shot, exploding it prematurely.

Using the smoke as cover, I dismissed the rifle and rolled away from a blind spray of bullets.

I summoned a saber on one hand, and on the other, one of my new weapons.

A machine gun. See, I'm branching out.

I quickly unloaded a round on the synth, the bullets not very strong individually, but the firing rate and the spread of the bullets allowed me to bombard one area of its tough armor. Specifically, the arm with the rocket launcher.

The synth flew up and charged towards me, opting to close the distance for better accuracy, I would guess.

This time, the synth fired off the missile while still in mid-air. Fortunately, it was so predictable and slow that I was already out of the projectile's path by the time it fired.

I rolled sideways and leapt towards the synth, slashing thrice at the damaged arm, severing it.

The synth, obviously not happy, raised its remaining arm for a heavy but choreographed melee strike. I quickly swapped my machinegun for my shield, blocking the blow but making me slide backwards.

Which was actually beneficial for me. I re-summoned my machinegun and unleashed another round at it's other arm, damaging it. I rolled out of the way of a stomp attack, holding the trigger on my gun, and capitalized.

In short order, the other arm was hacked off. I leapt away and fired off three charged shots from my machinegun.

The first one hit the chest, denting and charring it. The second hit the same spot, blowing apart the armor covering it. The third tore a hole in its center.

With a loud crash, the synth fell over.

Whew. Synths aren't very hard to deal with, but those tough armors are troublesome. They're also generally slow but if you do get hit, it's gonna _hurt_.

"Hey! You done with yours?"

"Yeah, just finished up."

"Nice. That was some fast switching there. I'm impressed. Got a way with guns, eh?"

"You could say that. Cool blades you got there."

I pointed to Red's twin sabers, which were made of metal instead of photon energy blades. A rarity. One was dark while one was light, and they had a pretty intricate design.

"Oh, _these_? I don't use them much, but they're pretty neat, huh? Supposedly, they used to belong to an archer of some sort."

"Why would an _archer_ need twin sabers?"

"Hell if I know. I think they're called... _Kan_ \- something."

Red shrugged, not really caring about the origins of her weapons. To be fair, I probably wouldn't too as long as they serve their purpose.

Just as we were catching our breath, my comms started pinging, indicating an incoming transmission.

"Emilia speaking. Hey, Kara, you read?"

"Loud and clear. We're just finishing up here with some synths."

"You too, huh? First the SEED, now _synths_. What the heck's going on here?"

Emilia sounded exasperated, and a little bit exhausted. I guess they ran into some synths of their own.

Well, I can't blame her. Those bots, especially those giant mecha synths, were a royal pain.

"They're obviously running security in this place. Speaking of, are you by chance in a lab area unsettlingly identical to Inhelt's?"

"Correct. The structure of this place is a close match to the Inhelt Corporation's research facilities."

"Hey, don't butt in, I'm talking to my partner over here!"

I don't know why Lumia felt the need to interrupt. All she did was repeat what I said but in a more formal manner.

In any case, Emilia was largely ignored by the stoic Guardian.

"Someone is trying very hard to keep us from finding whatever's here. This is where we lost contact with the team. There might be clues up ahead. They must be close."

"Hold up. _Lost_ contact with the team? You mean _Guardians_? Are you missing some people too?"

I immediately asked as soon as I heard the words from Lumia. She only sighed in response, confirming my guess.

Well, this has certainly turned into a surprising situation. It seems like even the Guardians were taken by that man in black with his brainwashing.

"Oh? So Little Wing _isn't_ the only one with missing agents? Can't say I blame the Guardians for not announcing the fact that they have people missing. How _embarrassing_ ~!"

I could practically feel the shit-eating grin of my partner, wherever they are, as she sing-songed her amusement.

I don't know where Emilia is getting all this bravado. In case you've forgotten, you darn troublemaker, we've been witholding the news that we have missing people _too_.

"Enough. I had no intentions of hiding it from you. There simply wasn't an immediate point or logical reasoning to me doing telling uou. So if you're quite _done_ , can we keep moving, please? Kara and Red, we'll try and meet up with you somewhere. Again, keep your comms online."

Oof, looks like Emilia got her mad.

Lumia cut off her channel, leaving me with a snickering Emilia, who was all too proud of herself.

"Well done, bolthead! You actually managed to piss off the robot girl! I _approve_!"

"Don't encourage her, Red."

I didn't know when the little troll was gonna suddenly pipe in but now was as good a time as any, I suppose.

"Emilia, aren't you supposed to be catching up to Lumia right about now?"

"Oh, you're right! Come on, Yut! Later, Kara!"

And with that, she cut off the transmission.

So, the Guardians were missing people too, huh? Well, that explains why Lumia was overly insistent on joining our little merry band.

Regardless, she could have just told us instead of being pushy. Emilia would have still teased her like she just did earlier but she'd still help out, the little softie.

See, there's this thing called professional trust when it comes to working together. I'll understand if it was confidential, but if it was, then I doubt she'd just slip up like that.

Well, anyhow, it's not my place to preach about trust. And right now, there's not much point in trying to figure out Lumia's motives.

For now, we've got missing people to find.


	17. V3 Ch2: Destroyer In Black

**I've made a cover image for Volume 1! Go on over to Volume 1's prologue to get the link. Check it out if you're interested!**

 **Here's Chapter 2, by the way**. **A little combat-heavy. Review?**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 3

In A Virtual Reality Without My VisiPhone!

 **Chapter 2**

 **Destroyer In Black**

 **ooo000ooo**

 **I**

 **ooo000ooo**

"An underground cave sector... Didn't think there was such an area here in Mt. Elbars..."

Red mused out loud as we examined the appearance of the area.

It was certainly rougher than the previous place we were in. There was barely any obvious development, only basic bridges to cover streams and some lanterns.

It was warmer than the place we fell down to but it was still pretty chilly.

No fewer than a few steps into the place though, unsurprisingly, we were already being attacked.

"I thought we'd seen the last of the SEED?!"

"Filthy SEED... Stay back! Stay back!"

My attention snapped into the direction of the voice instantaneously.

And warningly approaching us was a man wielding a rod, looking decidedly _not_ friendly. One quick look towards the other direction revealed two more people stalking us like dangerous animals, weapons in hand.

"Hey, what's the deal with these guys... Wait. Kara, look at that one's uniform."

"What about it... Hold on, isn't that...?"

A Guardians uniform.

Guess we found the missing people. Well, Lumia's missing people.

"Die, SEED! **[Barta]**!"

Without any provocation, the rod-guy fired off a blast of ice at us, prompting for a speedy evasion.

"Hey. I think these people think we're the SEED."

"You _think_ , huh? Gee, what gave it away, gunman?"

What's the deal with _gunman_?

Well, whatever the reason, these people are attacking us. One way or another, we have to stop them.

I summoned my saber and shield, setting the blade to stun. Red had her double saber out, already trading swings with a saber-using Guardian.

I spun 90 degrees to block a slashing attack from a female claw wielder, pushing off for an opening.

I prepped my saber for a quick swipe but was forced to abandon and evade a fireball, the rod-user clearly not intending to be passive.

And I was immediately assaulted again by the claw-user, forcing me to stay in the defensive.

"Red, need an assist!"

"Kinda busy here!"

Red replied from the other side, managing to overwhelm the saber-user momentarily but had to back away because of the rod-user's lightning blast.

Damn it, they're confused but they're _still_ skilled! I hate to say it but as expected of the Guardians! And being outnumbered isn't really helping our cause.

"We need to take out the rod-user!"

"Alright, I'm bringing the saber chick to you!"

Wait what.

Before I could ask what the midget was going on about, she was leaping past me, the saber-user hot on her heels.

Naturally, the dazed Guardian's attention shifted onto me.

I was forced to focus all my attention on the two melee Guardians, blocking and evading continuously.

"Hey, what-"

"Just a moment! **[Tornado Dance]**!"

And Red was off in a flash, spinning and accelerating like a damn jet and tornado fusion.

The Rednado blasted away a desperate Barta and collided with the rod-user, blowing him away into unconsciousness.

Unfortunately, my problems weren't over yet.

I swung my saber to gain a small wiggle room, both my opponents evading handily.

The claw-user recovered faster, charging at me with murderous intent.

And got a kick to side from the redhead, who was thankfully not nauseous from her little stunt.

"Just in time, midget!"

"Don't make me regret covering you, jackass!"

Grinning, I switched my shield for my machine gun and immediately open fired on the saber-user, forcing her on the defensive for a change.

She kept moving, and so did I.

" **[Gravity Strike]**!"

I unleashed the Photon Art, the combo of slashes overwhelming the saber-user. She fell down in a heap as I let out a weary sigh.

Damn, that was intense.

"Wow, so you're the type who would hit a girl, eh?"

"Cut the crap, Red."

"How am I saving your hide _this_ much and not even getting a thank you? Ah, whatever. Let's move these guys."

We tucked the unconscious Guardians into a hidden corner, saving the area's coordinates for later extraction.

We should be stowing them in but we weren't exactly close to our ship. Best we can do is make sure these people are as safe as possible.

"Brr, out in the cold again... Why'd they hafta leave this place half-finished?"

"Keep it down. I hear something from over there."

A couple of familiar voices echoed somewhere near, along with footsteps that were gradually becoming louder.

"I sense... I sense Kara and Red! They're close by!"

"Huh? You sure, Yut? _Where_?!"

The trio rounded the corner, with an excited Yut pointing Emilia towards me and Red.

And as soon as my partner spotted us, she was running, an overjoyed grin plastered on her face.

"Kara! _Kara_! You're alright! Hah... Thank... Goodness!"

She stopped just in front of me, placed her hands on my shoulders and started shaking me back and forth.

"You stupid idiot! I thought you were buried in the snow and we had to dig you out!"

"One, that's redundant! Two, you did that anyway! Three, stop shaking me!"

She stopped shaking me after that, but still had quite an angry face.

I was about to ask what was her problem before she suddenly reared her arm back and punched me on the arm.

"Hey, what was that for?"

"For making me worry like that! Did you have any idea how scared I was when I heard Red scream and suddenly you two were gone?"

"Hey, who said I screamed?"

She totally did.

Nonetheless, what do I say in this situation? Do I say sorry?

That sounds reasonable. Let's go with that.

"Uh, sorry?"

"That won't cut it!"

"Jeez, we were already talking in the comms earlier. Whaddaya want me to say?"

"For the love of- _Hey_. Psst. C'mere."

Red pulled me aside and started whispering into my ear.

"Tell her you'll make it up to her. Take her somewhere."

"Where?"

"I don't know, figure it out!"

And I was pushed back into a still fuming Emilia who had her hands on her hips.

"I, uh, I'll make it up to you somehow? Err, cafe? My treat."

Emilia then turned her head slightly sideways, closing one eye while peeking at me with the one farther to me.

But I could also see the corners of her lip twitching, like she's forcing a poker face or something.

What in Moatoob is she doing?

"Hmph. Fine, if you insist."

"Hey, what's that sup- _uogh_!"

I was cut off by Red elbowing me. And before I was able to give her a piece of my mind, she was already whispering.

"Stop. Just roll with it. Trust me."

"Ugh, whatever."

At that point, I don't even want to question it anymore. Girls and their secret code or whatever it is they use to communicate.

"Those people..! They're the missing Guardians!"

Lumia exclaimed in surprise, spotting the unconscious forms of the Guardians me and Red fought earlier.

"Sure are. Strange thing happened, though. They thought we were SEED and attacked us."

"Oh, you too, huh?"

Emilia asked in response to Red's statement, catching my attention. So they were attacked too?

Lumia must have read the question from my face, nodding to affirm my suspicions.

"That happened to us too. The people we found, who your teammates have confirmed to be from your firm, mistook us for SEED-forms and attacked us as well."

Well, that's... unsettling.

Why? Why would they see us as the SEED? Could it be possible that they encountered the SEED just as we have? Then why weren't we hallucinating as well?

This is starting to cause a minor headache.

"They were afraid of something. I could sense their fear."

Yut supplied, looking a bit contemplative but other than that, it was an unreadable expression.

The SEED invasion from three years ago was the most horrible event to ever befall Gurhal, sowing great fear into the hearts of many.

If these people saw the SEED roaming these mountains like us, then there's no doubt that fear was brought out into the surface where Yut could easily sense it.

Or perhaps, it was something else that they were afraid of. It's a possibility for sure.

"In any case, there are bound to be more missing people further in. We will have to find and immobilize as many as we can."

Lumia spoke in a firm tone, clearly undeterred from her goal. Those missing people aren't gonna find themselves.

Although hopefully, if we keep establishing ourselves as intruders, then _they_ might find _us_ instead.

"It would be a smart move for us to avoid getting separated again. This area is unfamiliar territory."

"Yeah, don't disappear again!"

"In case you needed a reminder, Emilia, it was you who triggered the trap."

Emilia looked affronted from my accusation, stuttering a bit before bouncing back.

"Well, if I hadn't noticed the odd wall then we wouldn't have even found the MIA's!"

"Jungle boy over here thought there was something up with the wall too, though."

"The child is right, I did!"

"Not helping, Yut!"

"Who're you calling a child?!"

Did I honestly expect something different? Well, shame on me.

Lumia seemed like she had something to say, took a look at my exasperated facepalming, and decided against it.

She started walking towards the deeper parts of the cave, looking like she's getting used to my teammates' antics.

I followed shortly after.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **II**

 **ooo000ooo**

"I still can't believe we had to kill those little things..."

Emilia grumbled out loud as we trekked through the cold, rocky path, displeasure evident on her face.

"Those things were SEED. They _needed_ to be eliminated."

"Yeah, I know but... they were so cute!"

They weren't so cute when they were blasting us with Barta spells like there was no tomorrow. It's not as if the place was cold enough.

The thing Emilia was upset about was our earlier encounter with more SEED-forms called Pannons, according to Lumia.

Looks like she did some research on the SEED while we were separated.

Pannons are little penguin-like creatures with a face that looked like several layered circles. They also liked bouncing around and firing off freezing gusts at people.

Although the curious thing is, just like with the SEED we fought outside the caves, the Pannons also disappeared into thin air the moment they were killed.

Which was very strange and very concerning.

"Emilia, those things orphaned a lot of people three years ago. No amount of cuteness will make them deserve any shred of mercy."

"That's harsh, Kara. But you're right..."

Emilia sighed and returned to scouting for more enemies or the missing people.

We've found a few more since we met up. Thankfully, we never encountered a group that outnumbered us, unlike when it was just me and Red.

It was still a challenge to non-lethaly incapacitate Guardians and mercenaries, but with our increased numbers, we were able to get the job done.

"I don't get it, though. Why were they congregating in corners?"

Emilia wondered, which in turn, got me wondering as well.

It was a valid question. If the abductor brainwashed them into thinking of intruders as SEED, then it would probably be to serve as guards.

But then, why would those people be stationed in secluded corners, hidden behind plenty of turns and large boulders?

We've thoroughly inspected those corners, but they were nothing but the deadest of dead-ends.

Was it simply a bug in the brainwash programming? No, it couldn't be.

Our kidnapper is an Ancient inhabiting the body of a man in black clothing. It's almost unthinkable for such a powerful entity to make such a careless mistake.

Unless they were specifically put there on purpose? Perhaps as a distraction? A distraction for what?

If the goal is to collect skilled combatants, then using them as distractions is completely counterproductive.

What's the point of abducting them then? Why go through all that trouble of making it so that they think we're SEED and attack on sight, if they were just going to be in a position where we can take them back easily?

This all makes no sense.

I have a feeling that this is all some trap, that we're all willingly walking towards to. But we can't just ignore those brainwashed people.

Ahh, that minor headache from before is starting to turn into a spectacular one.

"Hey. I know you don't talk much, but you're being awfully quiet."

I was brought out of my trance by a small nudge from Red, one of her eyebrows up with an expression on her face I couldn't place.

"Sorry. All of this just got me thinking..."

"Hmm. Meseta for your thoughts?"

"These missing people. Don't you think we're finding them a bit too easy?"

"A little bit. But hey, if this lets us complete the mission faster, then why complain?"

"Because we might be heading into a trap? There are a lot of reasons to be concerned."

Red shrugged in response. She looked like she was keeping what I said in mind, but she didn't have a very worried expression.

"If that is the case, then we will have to deal with it. Finding the men and women that were taken takes high priority."

Lumia said from in front, not a hint of hesitation on her face.

It's true. Our mission is to rescue the abducted. But...

"If the man in black is waiting for us, then I welcome it! I will take back the Land-Mother!"

Yut declared, determination etched on his face.

Idiot.

"That's completely reckless, Yut. We've fought the man in black before. He's too strong."

If you could even call that a fight. No, he wiped our faces with the _planet_.

"But if I don't try, how will I know? How will I get stronger?"

"Admirable resolve, but if you die then what's the point?"

"I'm not afraid of death! You've touched death before, Kara, and you're stronger from it! If I let fear control me, I will never _truly_ get stronger!"

See, that's where Yut's mistaken. There's a gap, a difference, between not being afraid to die and being utterly, boneheadedly reckless.

Fear isn't something you control.

"You've ' _touched death'_? What?"

Before I could reprimand Yut or answer Red's question, Lumia raised up a hand, summoning her rod with her other.

The others summoned their weapons as well, getting the message instantly. I readied my rifle as well.

"I-is the ground _shaking_? What... what's going on?"

The ground shook further as my partner's confused mumblings continued.

And suddenly, there was a crack in the open area in front of us. The rumbling stopped.

Nobody said a word for a solid second, everything was deathly silent.

Before something large exploded from the cracked ground, spreading rock and dust everywhere.

"What... Seed-Vance!"

Lumia called out as soon as she got a look at what emerged from below.

Great. Another SEED. Doesn't look like small fry either.

Seed-Vance was a big SEED-Form with a helmet like head, half-burrowed in the soil, with two long tentacles ending in tridents serving as some sort of arms.

It was also not a very pretty monster.

"Ew, what's that?!"

I'm not sure if this thing can understand human speech but it answered Emilia's disgusted question by lashing out with a tentacle.

" **[Diga]**!"

The slab of rock hit the tentacle, exploding on impact but successfully deflecting the attack on my partner.

"That's how many times the Guardian saved you with a rock now? Get your head in the game, blondie!"

And Red was already running towards the seemingly stationary SEED-form.

"Ah, thanks! R- _right_! **[Razonde]**!"

" **[Grants]**!"

The bolt of lightning hit first, followed by a beam of light dropping on its head, seemingly stunning it, or so I think. Hard to tell if the target has no face.

"Grahh!"

Yut leapt up with his spear, ready to skewer the giant worm. Red was on the other side, Double Saber ready.

Their assault was halted, however, when the SEED-Vanve spun in a circle with it's tentacles outstretched, forcing the two to use their weapons to defend.

Yut crashed into the ground while Red was able to control her fall, skidding to a stop.

I immediately released the charge shot I was holding, the concentrated photon bullet blasting the creature in the face, or the bulb thing on its head.

That put its attention on me, and I rolled out of the way of a high-speed tentacle, and jumped to evade another impaling attempt.

I fired off another shot, hitting it dead-on once again. With such a large target, how I could I miss?

" **[Rafoie]**!"

" **[Damgrants]**!"

Emilia's fiery tech blasted the creature, before Lumia fired off a continuous beam of light from her rod, forcing it to try and defend with its trident-tentacles.

Didn't know she had a laser in her arsenal.

I switched to my machine-gun and joined in on the bombardment, pelting it with even more damage.

" **[Damfoie]**!"

And Emilia joined in on the fun, releasing a constant stream of fire towards the SEED-Vance's helpless form.

Then there was a red, black, and orange blur, and the tridents were cut off from the tentacles, forcing the hapless SEED to take in the combined force of three attacks.

That was when Yut decided to finish it off, dropping down from above with his spear, impaling the creature from the top of its head.

I stopped firing as the glowing parts of the Seed-Form's body dimmed down, indicating it's death. The two tech-users stopped their assault as well.

The giant creature fell down with a heavy thud, and instantly started fading out of existence just like the other SEED.

We still don't have an explanation for that.

"Good work. We're almost at the end of the cave. Let's keep going."

"Haha! That got the blood rushing! I'm ready for more!"

"Cool it, tribesboy. Eh, on second thought, never mind. It's _cold_ in here, didn't even break a sweat."

"Whew, can't we take a break? C'mon, that was tiring! Don't listen to Red's lies!"

Tiring, a bit, but mostly because of the extended period of moving around we were doing since we left Clad 6.

But hard? Far from it. Normally, you wouldn't expect much from a non-moving opponent, especially if you outnumber it 5 to 1, but that was almost _too_ easy.

Suspiciously so.

Now I know I've done nothing but be suspicious since we got here but can I be blamed here?

This is the man in black we're talking about. The same guy who burned down the Kasch Village, kidnapped mercenaries and Guardians, and is basically plotting to unleash an apocalypse.

So sue me if I'm being a little paranoid.

But as we moved even deeper into the caves, I couldn't help but notice a dark feeling welling up inside me.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **III**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Ugh... I know they're mind-controlled or whatever but it's getting _really_ tiring being called a SEED. Do I _look_ like a SEED to you?"

Emilia grumbled as we set down three more knocked out mercenaries, bringing the total rescued people to about 20.

I can maybe understand why Emilia's complaining so much. We've gotten by well enough due to our number advantage but fatigue is starting to kick in.

And not to mention the occasional monster or SEED attack.

"No, you're worse."

"Hardy-har-har, Red."

My troublesome partner glared at Red as the shortie chuckled, looking a bit winded as well but seemingly still having enough energy to make fun of Emilia.

Seeing as her glaring wasn't accomplishing anything, Emilia sighed, weariness apparent in her.

"Nothing we say gets through them. That must be some _really_ powerful mind-control..."

"Apparently so. But why? Synthetics would be better for keeping intruders out."

Exactly what I was thinking about. Looks like Lumia is on the same wavelength as me on this one.

It all makes no sense.

"Hey, what's the tribesboy doing over there?"

"Huh? Yut? You alright?"

Emilia called out to the narrow-eyed Kasch, who was closely observing thin air.

Is this another one of his mystical abilities at use?

"I feel... _something_. Something close. Like a stench on the wind..."

Stench?

Before any of us could ask what he meant, he pointed to a path leading deeper into the caves.

"It's coming from inside. Is it... Is it the Land-Mother?"

The Land-Mother? The Codex?

If the Codex is apparently _here_ , then...

"Feel? Stench? Land-Mother? Can somebody explain to me what this guy's been saying?"

Red suddenly called out and asked, looking slightly irritated for not being in the loop about Yut's abilities.

She didn't get an answer, though, as two wounded Guardians suddenly came running out of the passageway, drenched in cold sweat and blood.

Lumia went into full alert.

"Over there! Guardians!"

"There's no way! We can't beat that _thing_!"

One of the running Guardians exclaimed as they passed us and hid behind a boulder, not even acknowledging our presence.

Thing? What thing? What were they running from?

"Wha... I don't see a thing... What were they talking about?"

"It's right _there_!"

Yut pointed to the passageway, but there was nothing there.

"What exactly? There's nothing... wait."

I narrowed my eyes at the spot he pointed to, spotting a small distortion in the air.

Which suddenly grew into massive proportions, easily covering the passageway.

The ground started rumbling periodically, as if something big and heavy was approaching us.

"Um... What's happening?"

"Something's coming. Eyes alert. Stay sharp."

Lumia answered, summoning her rod.

And as if to confirm her suspicion, a large, gray foot emerged from the distortion and slammed into the ground, causing tremors to rock the cave.

I summoned my saber and shield, feeling a drop of cold sweat run down the side of my face.

Within a few seconds, the creature was fully out of the distorted space.

With a massive roar, the creature sent shockwaves that threatened to throw us off our feet if we weren't careful.

Lumia let out a sharp gasp upon laying eyes on the new arrival.

"Seed-Argine?!"

Seed-Argine was a giant Seed-Form that looked like an armored man with two big axes attached to its arms instead of hands.

Presumably for butchering it's targets, which was a nice mental image, thank you very much.

What made it truly Seed-like however, was that its lower body was completely different from what you'd expect of a humanoid monster.

Attached to its torso was what looked like a four-legged creature, complete with its own mouth, filled with numerous razor-sharp teeth.

Yeah, this is shaping up to be the highlight of such a terrific day.

"Did that appear out of thin air? Okay. Now I _know_ I'm dreaming."

"This ain't a dream, boltie. You better wake up."

"It was a figure of- oh, never mind. This is more of a nightmare, really."

Ha, you _wish_.

It'd certainly make things easier if this was a dream. But I suppose this was payment due for the pushover that was Seed-Vance, relatively speaking.

Why couldn't that damned thing have been more of a challenge to balance things out?

Maybe I _really_ should have not been too suspicious of things going well. For all I know, I could have jinxed this whole damn freak show.

"No time to play the guessing game. Here it comes!"

We all got out of the way quickly to avoid the monsters' charge, staying clear of those ax-arms taking top priority.

Red was the first to recover, leaping towards the giant Seed-Form with an overhead slash.

Seed-Argine blocked the attack with an ax, displaying impressive speed for such a big creature.

Red twisted in mid-air to strike with the other end of her double saber, which was parried by the other arm.

" **[Zonde]**!"

Red moved out of the way as the lightning bolts struck the monster, doing minimal, unnoticeable damage.

It ignored Emilia completely, instead charging towards the nearest targets.

Me and Yut.

I used my shield to block the sweeping slash, while Yut leapt up, getting in position to attack.

The force of the blow pushed me away a considerable distance, the strain almost too much to take.

Yut thrust with his spear, hitting Seed-Argine directly in the face, stunning it but not piercing its skin.

He got out of the way as a Grants, courtesy of Lumia hit the behemoth on the back. It didn't like it.

I switched to my rifle and fired at the beast to get it to switch targets, but it pushed through, intent on taking its revenge on Lumia.

Damn it, she can't outrun that thing!

I switched to my twin sabers and ran towards the lumbering beast, who swatted away attempts to attack it from Yut and Red.

" **[Rabarta]**!"

Emilia's tech blasted the Seed-Form with ice, slowing it for a single moment but ultimately not stopping it.

Lumia took a sharp turn at a wall, which the beast wasn't able to replicate, its momentum sending it crashing into said wall.

It didn't slow it down for long, but it allowed me to catch up.

I leapt up and brought my twin sabers down on the thing's back, drawing blood, finally, but also catching its attention.

Seed-Argine braked and spun slightly to allow itself to swing at me.

I switched to shield as fast as I could, the heavy hit throwing me towards the wall.

"Gah!"

"K-Kara!"

" **[Damgrants]**!"

Lumia fired off the beam of light at the giant, the force of the tech making it halt its attempted charge.

It was obviously a gargantuan task, the Guardian gritting her teeth as beads of swear started forming on her forehead.

Yut came charging in, ducking below a swing from the beast's free arm.

He thrust his spear into its side, eliciting a pained roar.

Red was next, dropping down to land on the beast's back, unleashing a barrage of slashes as it was busy fending off Yut's assault and Lumia's Damgrants.

"Hey, Kara, you okay?"

"Yeah."

I replied as I inspected my shield, obviously not holding up well because of the two heavy hits it endured. One more and it's probably gonna break.

"Go, I can manage."

"A-alright then."

It was at that moment that Seed-Argine finally had enough, unleashing a powerful roar that blew away Yut and Red and stopping Lumia's tech.

The beast rounded down towards Yut, looking absolutely enraged.

Yut gripped his spear tighter and charged the giant, opting for a forehand slash.

Which Seed-Argine countered with a backslash of its ax-arm, batting Yut away and into the ground. Not done, It began its charge towards the recovering Yut, all signs pointing to trampletown.

"Hey, get away from him! **[Rafoie]**!"

The explosion blasted the charging Seed-Form but did not deter it in the absolute slightest.

Emilia kept firing off Rafoie's, none of them doing a damned thing.

" **[Tornado Dance]**!"

The Rednado made it's second appearance today, slamming into Seed-Argine, finally bringing it off-course.

It retaliated with a swing, which Red evaded in mid-air, bringing down a slash on the giant's increasingly agitated face before dropping down.

Red got off another slash, dodging yet another swing by leaping up.

Her luck didn't last.

Seed-Argine reared up with its hind legs and kicked with its forelegs, something Red didn't foresee.

She was able to block with her double saber, but the force blasted her away into the far wall.

"Grrr, I've had it! **[Razonde]**! Maximum power!"

A glorious spear of lighting blasted the beast, actually stunning it in place as it was electrocuted.

Damn it, we need something with a bit more oomph.

Red's taking a long time to get up, so she's out. Yut seemed to be okay and Lumia's taking a little breather.

I think I got it.

"Hey, Lumia! You okay over there?"

"I'm fine! Just a little drained, but I'm good to go."

"Yut, what about you?"

"I can still fight!"

I called out to the two, an idea forming in my head. None of our attacks were dealing any significant damage. Even Emilia's current assault isn't managing to finish off the Seed-Form.

And I doubt any of my weapons can do a thing without risking a serious injury.

So what if we use two of our party's strongest available options, at the same time?

"I need you to charge your mirage blasts as much as you can. The rest of us will distract it. Fire on my signal. We're going for overkill."

"Alright!"

"Understood. Leave it to me."

And they both got on their casting stances, photon energy swirling around them.

"Hah... Hah... Had enough?"

Seed-Argine roared in response.

"Emilia, fall back for now. You're burnt out."

"I'm not...! Err, actually, yeah, I am. What are you going to do?"

"Something stupid, probably."

Red dropped down beside me, looking quite battered but still in fighting shape.

"Red. Good timing. We need to let those two charge up."

"Sheesh, why couldn't we have started with that?"

Red took the lead, running straight towards the Seed-Form.

I summoned my saber and machine-gun, firing off a round at the giant who decided to counter our charge with its own.

I ran in a circle around it, not giving it a straight line towards me.

Red jumped up high to dodge a low swing, slashing at the face before quickly retreating. It roared and prepared to chase Red.

Which allowed me to get in close and slash at its legs.

It got even more enraged, roaring loudly, the shockwave planting us in place, which was... not good.

I barely managed to dodge a retaliatory slash, the wind pressure blowing me away.

Seed-Argine then _spun_ , blocking a sneak attack from red. It raised it's other arm to counter.

Red pushed off from the clash, avoiding a deadly return strike.

" **[Rabarta]**!"

And was blasted by an explosion of ice, immobilizing it temporarily.

This is it! An _opening_!

"Lumia, fire _now_!"

"Got it! **[Clod Impact]**!"

Lumia went first, bringing her rod down as if it was a hammer.

In perfect sync, the Earth beast, Toitoi, fell from above, slamming down on the partially frozen Seed-Form.

"Yut!"

" **[Flaming Roar]**!"

Next up was Yut, summoning the fire beast, Nui.

In short order, a wave of flame engulfed the immobilized Seed-Form, resulting in a fiery explosion.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **IV**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Hah... Enough already..."

Emilia panted out as she fell down on the ground, her rod clanging off the hard rock before disappearing.

I could share her sentiments, for once. That was very much _not_ pleasant.

Thankfully, the collosal Seed-Form lay immobile, already fading into nothing, as per frickin' usual.

"Haha... what'd I say? Easy..."

Red laughed as she completely fell down on her back, looking absolutely bedrazzled.

"I think we've seen the last of it but we mustn't let our guard down. If that thing can appear out of nowhere then we're _never_ truly safe!"

"Geez, chill, robo-cop. Lemme just take a breather..."

The redhead was ignored, Lumia moving over to the Guardians who came running earlier. They somehow managed to knock themselves out one way or another. Must be a side effect of the mind-control deactivating.

That's less work, which I'll gladly take. I really don't wanna go through that again.

It's a relief two consecutive mirage blasts were able to take it down. It seemed like it was _ready_ to tank anything we throw at it.

We might be getting a little overreliant on mirage blasts bailing us out of tough situations but we really had no other options at the time. The area was just big open space.

Which makes me wonder if this really was a trap, like I was suspicious of.

"It's a relief Emilia cast that Rabarta when she did. Me and Red weren't faring very well."

"H-huh? _Me_?"

Emilia sputtered out in surprise, obviously not expecting that.

It was true though, that Rabarta gave us that opportunity to blast it with the big guns.

"Speak for yourself, beastboy. I was doing alright. But yeah, that was some good thinking, boltie."

"I agree. Were it not for that momentary intervention, I doubt that we would have gotten both attacks to connect."

"U-um, I don't... I mean, that is to say! _Yeah_! I'm the MVP of this battle! Err, right?"

She boasted, looking very proud of herself before getting confused.

Really, this girl.

"Yep. Couldn't have done it without you."

"Ehehe, thanks..."

Emilia turned away as soon as she heard what I said.

What? What's wrong with what I said?

To my surprise, Red just laughed. Even Lumia had a smile on her face.

I don't get it.

"...!"

Yut all the sudden perked up, looking around frantically.

Come to think of it, he's been quiet since we beat Seed-Argine. What is it now?

"Yut, what's wrong? You in a hurry to leave or something?"

Emilia asked, a little concern in her voice.

"I... I _feel_ it! I know I do! The Land-Mother is that way!"

Yut didn't give us a chance to ask any more questions, running off into the same passageway the two injured Guardians came from.

Did he say the Land-Mother, though? The Codex?

Oh... _hell_.

"Yut, wait! Come back here!"

"He can't hear us! I'm going after him!"

"Kara?! _Hey_!"

I started giving chase immediately. If who I'm thinking of is here, then Yut is not gonna be safe on his own.

To be fair, I started moving before I started thinking. What am I hoping to accomplish?

Stop Yut, sure. But the kid is running like we haven't just been in a slugfest with a tank.

So make sure he doesn't fight the genocidal Ancient on his own. But beyond that?

I know I improved over the past month, All of us did. But there's still this feeling of dread welling up within me.

Before I was able to collect my thoughts further, the cold, frigid air blasted me out of my thoughts as I exited the cave.

It was a little hard to see at first because of all the snow but after a while, my vision cleared.

And standing right there, in front of a spear-wielding Yut...

Was the man in black.

No rest for the wicked, huh?

I wasted no time.

I brought out my saber and ran towards the man, who wasn't having any problems with the cold despite the bare-chested outfit.

With a grunt of effort, I swung with a backhand slash while I was still unnoticed.

My blade stopped in mid-air, as if something invisible collided with it.

The man in black turned his face towards me, and I immediately felt my blood run cold.

I leapt away as fast as I could, feeling like I just escaped with my life. He didn't seem to have any plans of giving chase.

"You again? You seem bent on dogging my heels. Have you learnt nothing from before?"

"It was _you_. The missing people, the raid... You were behind _all_ of it!"

"Hmph. I'll ask again. So what if I was? I've no time to discuss such trivialities with you."

Well, at least he's not denying it.

I forced myself to grin. I'm not letting him have the satisfaction of seeing my fear.

"You! You give it back! The Land-Mother belongs to the Kasch!"

The man in black's face shifted ever so slightly, as if confused, before scoffing.

"The Land-Mother? Ah, you must mean the Codex. Foolishness."

"What did you say?!"

Easy there, tiger.

I took a look at the tribesboy's face, no I dared to look away from the man in black.

Yut was furious, his grip on his spear turning his knuckles red.

"The Codex was always ours. You presume to claim it as your own? You, with your weak, mortal flesh?"

Again with the flesh thing. I get why he'd feel so superior, what with being an Ancient and all, but it was just making me _cringe_.

Never thought I'd call an _ancient being_ bent on the apocalypse _cringy_.

Apparently, that set Yut off, running into action with full intent on stabbing the emo Ancient.

Well, here we go.

Yut thrust forward, and in the blink of an eye, the man in black was gone.

Before he could even start getting confused, he was kicked away with the same amount of force I could remember from the Kasch village.

Great.

I summoned a machine gun on my other hand and started firing rapidly.

To my surprise, or maybe not, the man in not-white clothing moved with such speed and fluidity to avoid each and every one of my bullets, looking sickeningly smug as he did so.

Okay, guns weren't working.

I ran forward and tried another saber attack, and this time, there were no invisible walls.

But I still missed.

I swung again. And again. And again.

Miss. Miss. Miss.

Before I could attack again, the person in dark attire leapt up, avoiding a slash from Yut.

And I felt a tremendous impact on my arm, which I managed to raise up to guard completely on instinct.

I was still sent flying.

" _Oh_?"

I heard a little surprise on the man's voice as I rolled uncontrollably on the snow. I'll take that as the smallest of victories.

Yut let out a battle cry before thrusting his spear at our opponent.

He caught the spear at the blade with his bare hand, and lifted Yut off the ground.

"Begone, insect."

And he slammed him _hard_ on the ground, allowing him a second to cry out in pain, before kicking him towards the mountain wall.

Yut didn't get up.

At least he didn't kill him. Another small win.

I picked myself, with a great deal of effort, and summoned my twin sabers. If all else is failing, I'm going for an all-out offensive.

The man in black grinned a predator's grin, but instead of attacking me, jumped away before an orange blur sliced his previous position.

The attacker, who I've identified as Red immediately went for the place the man in black appeared to a split second later.

Red unleashed a three-slash combo, missing but, as far as I could see, actually _grazing_ the dude in dim threads.

He leapt away, and Red followed, keeping up her assault, before he seemingly got fed up, landing a powerful kick which Red was able to block with her weapon.

Red slid to a stop next to me, panting.

"Hey, how's it going, man?"

"Just peachy."

"Cool. So this is our culprit?"

I nodded in response.

The man in black had an eyebrow raised. He didn't look particularly worried that Red was able to match him for a while there. If anything, he looked intrigued.

"That was unexpected. Looks like you lot aren't as completely helpless as I thought."

He let out a deep, unfriendly chuckle, before holding his arms out.

In a bright flash, two intricately designed sabers, red and black in color, appeared on each of his hands. They looked more like decorational pieces than actual weaponry.

"Fine. I'll indulge you for a while."

Red let out a sharp breath, before leaping into the fray, double saber at the ready.

I picked up on her trail, with a bit of surprise that I was able to keep up.

Red spun her weapon before swinging with a backhand slash. The man in black parried with one of his sabers.

I slid to his side before attempting an upward swing, which was parried by his other saber.

I swung with my other saber while Red pivoted to strike with her weapon's other end.

The man in black disappeared, but I caught a faint movement in the corner of my eye.

I leapt up to avoid a stabbing strike, surprising him, Red, and myself.

I let gravity power my next attack, bringing down both sabers, only to be blocked by a spinning parry.

The man in black pushed me off to avoid a double attack from Red, leaping away only to return for another assault.

It went on for a few more times, my disbelief growing with every second that passed.

How the heck am I keeping up? A moment ago, I couldn't even track his movements.

Well, if it's letting me stand the _tiniest_ of chances, then I'll gladly take it.

I kicked off the ground to attempt another slash, and predictably missed, but it was closer than it was before.

I twisted my grip on the same saber and thrust forward to stab.

The man in black sidestepped to avoid the attack, and I felt pain in my stomach.

I must have been kicked, again, I realized, as I sailed through the air and into the snow.

The man in black reappeared in front of me, one saber already making its way towards me.

Which was parried by Red.

She was swiftly kicked away and right onto me, feeling our bodies collide as we crashed onto the frigid ground.

"Commendable. But not enough."

Before we could get ourselves out of the snow, the man in black moved, faster than we've ever seen him before.

This must have been a field day for my body moving on its own.

I summoned and raised my battered shield and got in front of Red, who I've noticed was the target of the man in black's attack.

Next thing I know, my shield shattered into numerous pieces, Emilia emerging from the cave with a growing horrified expression on her face...

And a whole lotta _red_.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **V**

 **ooo000ooo**

I couldn't really point out when this day officially went from bad to _worse_.

Was it when the SEED suddenly reappeared after three years?

When me and Red fell down that cave? When a massive Seed-Form appeared out of nowhere? When the man in black is hanging around in Mt. Elbars for reasons I _don't_ know?

Or how about when my trusty shield died and my chest got cut open?

"What did you _do_?! You utter and complete _idiot_!"

I heard Red shout out, as well as footsteps coming near me. Excuse me, I couldn't hear very well, what with all this snow around my body.

And you know, bleeding out and all.

"Hmph. As I've said. Mortal. Weak. That is the consequence of your continued defiance."

"I'll show you mortal!"

I could hear the man in black laugh. There seemed to be a hint of amusement in his voice, much to Red's irritation.

Well, whatever. I'll just hang around here, don't mind me.

That seemed like a good plan, until something blocked my view of the sun.

"H-hey, outta the way... Oh, ' _sup_ , 'Lia."

"What do you mean " _'sup_ "?! Just... just hang on, okay? **[Resta]**!"

I felt the healing energy enter my system, accelerating my body's regeneration and slowly but surely closing the wound.

"Ooh, that feels nice... I might actually survive at this rate."

"Shut up! Just shut up! I don't want another word!"

Party pooper.

"Consider this a warning. Interfere again, and you will not even get the glory of being the hosts of the reborn Ancients!"

"I know those words. You speak with the voice of a mortal, yet you have the tone of an Ancient."

A bright golden light emerged from behind Emilia, and I could catch a glimpse of our own Ancient.

"Hm? So you choose to show yourself, _traitor_."

"Traitor? Our civilization has already ended. This time, these worlds... The labor of these people has made them what they are now. No one has the right to take that from them."

The man in black laughed, yet again. This time, it was an uproarious laugh, finding what Mika said to be genuinely funny.

As the Resta's energies continued to fix my body, I could see Red still on guard, looking absolutely baffled.

"Who... who is he _speaking_ to? What the hell is going on?"

The redhead asked out loud, getting a little freaked out by what was currently transpiring.

I couldn't blame her. Without the ability to see or hear Mika, the man in black must look a little coocoo at the moment.

I love small victories.

"An age built on the foundations _we_ laid for _them_! All this, all they've made! We are the true architects of their prosperity! The fruits of their labors are ours for the taking! When the glory of our age returns, all this will be swept away. Like the consciousness of this feeble body."

Ignoring the incredibly entitled speech the guy just said, something else caught my attention.

The consciousness of the body?

So Mika wasn't kidding when she said we'd get wiped out if this guy gets what he wants. Not that I doubted her but, to actually hear it from the source is really something.

"Then you leave me no choice. I will stop you by force, if I must!"

"A funny notion, that. _You_ would stand against _me_ , the ruler of our race? The body in which you dwell and those who surround it are _weak_."

I didn't hear any response from Mika after that.

Hey, at least defend us from being called weak. Don't mind the fact that we just got our asses handed to us spectacularly.

I need my small victories.

"Consider well. The revival of our race is the destiny of Gurhal. Her chosen destiny. But don't worry. We will meet again soon. Although by then, it will already be too late!"

The man in black laughed once more, before suddenly disappearing without a trace, leaving Mika staring towards where he was a few seconds ago.

Silence permeated through the air, besides the sounds caused by Emilia's constant Resta, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

At the same time, I felt I had recovered enough energy, so I did the most reasonable thing I could think of.

I abruptly sat up.

"Hup! Ooh, _ow_ , shouldn't have done that... Hey, is the world spinning?"

And I felt the snow on the back of my head once more. My wound might not be fatal anymore, but everything still hurts and I'm still a bit lightheaded from the blood loss.

But I managed to startle Emilia out of her concentration, so there's _that_.

"What do you think you're _doing_?!"

"Stopping you from pushing yourself too much. You look like you're about to pass out."

"Why exactly do you _think_ I'm pushing myself?! If you weren't so... _so_...! Graahh!"

"Hey, _ow_! Don't hit the dying man!"

Is this girl trying to heal me or kill me?!

But despite my attempt to lift the dark cloud hanging over everyone, I still had a question I need answered.

I turned my head towards Mika.

"What was he doing here?"

"... I do not know. But whatever the reason, it's somehow connected to everything that's happened."

The benevolent Ancient answered after a short pause.

So even Mika doesn't know why the man in black was in Mt. Elbars, huh? Damn it.

"But don't we already _know_ he's been behind it? I just wish we knew what " _it_ " was."

Emilia chose that moment to supply some additional information.

She was right, though. We've had plenty of evidence to prove to _ourselves_ the man's involvement in all these incidents.

But despite this encounter, we're still not any closer to proving any of this to _everyone else_ than when we started.

How annoying.

"Alright, that's _it_. Has everyone here gone insane? Is there some secret part of the conversation I'm missing?!"

Red angrily demanded, snapping us out of our impromptu meeting.

I'm sure she tried to be intimidating or something when she interrupted us, arms crossed and all...

But she just looked adorable, honestly.

"I know what you're thinking, _deadbrain_. Want me to finish you off? I'm still pissed off at your little stunt earlier, just so you know."

Joking aside, we're surely going to have to let Red know everything now. We can't weasel our way out of this one.

"We'll tell you everything when we got back. It's a long one."

"Hey, Kara, are you sure about that? Cause _I'm_ not. What if she doesn't believe us?"

"I'm sure. Red's already as involved in this as you and me. Are you okay with this, Mika?"

"If you think it will help our cause, then I see no problems with it."

"It's decided then. Once we're back in Clad 6, we'll explain everything. I _mean_ it."

Red looked at us critically for a solid five seconds, before uncrossing her arms with a sigh.

"Fine. I'll hold you to that."

Hoo boy, that's gonna be a doozy later.

Just as Red finished her sentence, a dejected Yut came shambling over towards us. The kid looked absolutely _miserable_.

"Yut? You okay? Are you hurt?

"... He beat me. I never had a chance."

Relatable.

"Oh. Don't let it bother you _too_ much, Yut. He's just too strong."

"I know. I need to face death. Then I'll be strong... Like my brother! _Then_ I can beat him!"

"And beating him will solve all our problems. But that's easier said than done. He beat all three of you, and I doubt I would have made much of a difference. We need to find a way to take him down!"

"Heh. Piece of _cake_."

"Could you look at yourself first before saying that, Kara? If you weren't _such_ a bonehead, I'd wish I had your confidence!"

Call me a bonehead again, you troublesome girl.

Wait, right now, the one who's causing trouble for the other is actually _me_.

Well, nevermind the small details.

I was about to retort with something when Emilia suddenly hung her head down, looking so defeated.

"I... I can't keep relying on you for everything, you know? Look what happened."

Before I could give an answer, my words died in my throat.

What exactly do I say?

If I tell her she can keep relying on me, wouldn't that be irresponsible of me, as someone who was supposed to be teaching _her_ about responsibility and accountability?

And if I agree with her, wouldn't that just be kicking her while she's down?

I can't win here. Thankfully, I didn't have to.

"Do your abilities really warrant such pessimism?"

Someone said from behind us, and I could immediately tell who it was.

Emilia stood up and placed her hands on her hips, giving Lumia a solid glare.

"What exactly are you getting at?"

"To put it simply, it's time you showed some more self-confidence! On the one hand, you can see through an elaborate holograph. On the other, you complain that you're helpless!"

"What are you getting mad at _me_ for? If you're trying to give me a compliment, you could use a little work."

"Let me _finish_!"

Lumia actually rose her voice for just an instant, her cool and collected mask gradually crumbling into dust the longer she spends time with us.

She picked herself up quite fast after that, returning to a stoic stature but looking a little...

Embarrassed?

"The fact is, I couldn't have found the people we were looking for on my own. So... I wanted to thank you. There, is _that_ better?"

Emilia blinked a few times, her arms going slack as she tried to process what she just heard.

See, she's capable of showing gratitude. Just like back in Neudaiz. Even though that one was more of an indirect thank you.

This was a bit more face to face.

Emilia let out an exasperated sigh.

"You just don't know when to shut up, _do_ you?

"And you do? My, look at the time. Let's get your friend treated."

Yes, please.


	18. V3 Ch3: The Crimson Secret

**Volume 2 has a cover now! If you're interested, check it out in the V2 prologue!**

 **Anyway, chapter 3. Took a while.** **But with this chapter, this little story breaks 100k words. Yay, I guess? Thanks for reading!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 3

In A Virtual Reality Without My VisiPhone!

 **Chapter 3**

 **The Crimson Secret**

 **ooo000ooo**

 **I**

 **ooo000ooo**

I slowly opened my eyes, and immediately got blinded by light.

What... Oh. Must have passed out while I was getting hauled back into the ship. Guess with the adrenaline running out, I couldn't fight off the light-headedness anymore.

I could feel that I was lying on something soft, like a mattress, or maybe a bed. This feels awfully familiar...

The light was still hurting my eyes, even when they were closed, so I tried moving my arm to cover it.

Big mistake.

" _Ow_."

Suddenly, I heard shuffling from beside me, along with a soft gasp.

"You're awake!"

Oh. Emilia.

By now, my eyes have adjusted enough that I was able to open my eyes. I was in a small white room, with some chairs and hanging sheets.

The infirmary. Makes sense.

I looked down to notice that I wasn't wearing my shirt and coat anymore, with the shirt most likely ruined and the coat soaked with blood.

Instead, there were thick and tight bandages wrapped around my chest, and also my left arm.

"Boss. Kara's awake! You can come over now!"

Emilia turned off the comms without waiting for a response, most likely annoying Kraz a fair bit.

Heh. Typical Emilia.

"Hey."

"You're really casual about almost dying, aren't you? How're you feeling?"

"Well, everything hurts. Other than that, I _think_ I'm good."

"Hmph. You're unbelievable."

So she says, but I could see a little smile there.

Emilia let out a weary sigh, before looking at me again.

"The doctors say you have a few broken ribs, and your left arm is busted too so you'd probably have to use a sling for a while."

Right off the bat, that was more than what I'd expected. I guess adrenaline worked its magic longer than I thought fornme to not noitice a _broken arm_.

That hit I blocked without my shield must have been what broke it.

Which means it's unavailable for the time being. That sucks. Guess I'm out of active duty for a while. Damn that emo Ancient.

"You've also lost a lot of blood so no extensive activities! And, well... I did my best back in Moatoob but... that wound on your chest will probably scar. Sorry..."

"Nah, don't apologize. you saved my life, 'Lia. I can live this, it's not a big deal."

Emilia's eyes widened a bit after hearing what I said, before her expression turned into a sad smile.

"Thanks, Kara."

"Heh. So, what happened after I passed out?"

"Oh, let's see... Lumia went back to Guardians HQ along with the rescued Guardians. And I called the boss to have the mission report on hold. You were... kinda a priority."

Oh.

Emilia quickly snapped out of her mildly embarrassed state, an annoyed expression adorning her tired face.

"I did give him a basic rundown, though. And can you _believe_ it? He actually got _mad_ because we haven't been answering his calls! I tried telling him there wasn't any signal back there but he said to tell him _beforehand_! Like I'd be able to know beforehand that there wasn't any signal!"

Uh-oh, she's started a rant.

It sure sounds to me, though, that Kraz was just plain worried. Isn't that nice.

And Emilia being the blockhead that she is, or perhaps due to past experiences, it just came to her as more nagging.

Thankfully, her ranting was interrupted when the room's door opened, and in came Yut, Red, and Kraz.

Well, I guess morale isn't in high supply these days. Red was strangely quiet, opting to lean on the wall with her arms crossed. Yut looked mildly depressed making his way to the front of the bed.

"Ah, Kara! You don't look good. I don't think we'll be able to do training any time soon. Get better quickly!"

"Uh, I'll do my best, Yut."

At least Yut acknowledged my state, his face slightly lighting up upon seeing me awake. Red didn't even spare a glance.

And Kraz stood at the doorway, hands in his hips and looking both me and Emilia over.

"Uh, boss? Mind not staring too much? It's creepy."

I'd have expected a "shut yer trap" response or something similar, but instead, Kraz just sighed in what seemed to be relief.

"Looks like y'all came back in one piece. Well, except _you_. You look like shit, kid."

"Don't I know it."

Kraz let out a snicker, before focusing his gaze on Emilia. Not that I could tell, with that mop of his he calls hair, but that's where his head was facing.

"Guess I can forgive yer communication shortcomings _this_ time. Alright, debriefing time. The Little Wingers you rescued, thanks for that by the way, didn't have any memory of what happened to them. All of them."

What a surprise. Looks like the man in black is hell-bent on messing with our minds.

Luckily, we got there before they or the missing Guardians were able to do anything other than stand around, but...

"So we still have no idea why they were abducted."

"Bingo."

The room was dead quiet after that for a while, before Emilia timidly avoided meeting Kraz's eyes.

Remind me to never tell this girl any secrets.

"Um, about that..."

"What? You find something else down there?"

"Well, you see... We don't exactly have any proof, and you probably won't believe us anyway, but..."

I was about to tell her to get on with it, or tell him myself but I remembered why exactly she's being so hesitant.

The last time we tried to tell Kraz about a conspiracy theory, he wasn't exactly close to buying it. Granted, I could have done a better job back then, but all we had then was the word of a person only me and her can see or hear.

This time, though, we _might_ be able to convince him. And I have a chance to make up for leaving her on her own back then.

"C'mon, tell him. I'm right behind ya."

Emilia still looked hesitant but relaxed slightly upon hearing my words.

She let out a deep breath, before looking Kraz in the eyes.

"Remember that talk we had before you sent us off to Inhelt, boss?"

"Like it was yesterday. Subspace is bad, yada yada... something 'bout Ancients... Inhelt is bad... yada yada yada... A man in black is behind it all. That about sum it up?"

Well, I guess he got the basic gist of it...

"More or less."

"We found some sort of facility where the abductees were being held. Something I've never seen before. I think it belonged to Inhelt. The design, the logic patterns... it was a dead match."

"Say what now?"

Kraz looked a bit confused, but still following what Emilia was saying. I urged her to continue.

"I don't have any hard proof, and I'm just going off what we saw when we were at Inhelt, but still..."

"Don't forget the most important part. The man in black was there too."

"Oh, right! It was the same guy who attacked the Kasch village! The missing people, the man in black, Inhelt... it's all connected! I just can't prove it yet."

Kraz took a moment to let all that information sink in, actually taking us seriously this time.

Well, I guess that's what being a hard-working employee does for you, but I have a feeling that's not the only reason for this change.

"Uh, boss? You there?"

"... you _do_ realize Inhelt isn't exactly going to like being accused of any of this. And they'll make one heck of an enemy."

"I know. I wouldn't have said anything if I wasn't sure."

Kraz grunted in response, putting his hand on too of his head as if a migraine was starting to form.

I couldn't blame him.

After a while of silence, he sighed.

"Figures. It never rains but it pours. Well, I guess I should tell you what _I_ know now."

Tell us what?

Kraz took the confusion on our faces as confirmation to continue, opting for a more serious expression.

"Our parent company, Skyclad, cancelled their support of the subspace research program."

Well, that's... a shock.

Feels like it was just yesterday when Skyclad was all over Subspace research. What changed?

"And we're not the only ones. Other companies have been pulling out one after another. Which leaves Inhelt as the sole subspace research firm."

"What? Why?!"

Emilia suddenly blurted out, not expecting any of this at all.

To be fair to her, it's safe to assume none of us were.

"Turns out the subspace experiments were driving the native wildlife into a frenzy. You saw for yourself when you were at Inhelt, among other places. What's more, the thoughts of anyone present when subspace is formed... Well, they become real."

The thoughts become real? Could it be?

Hold up just a minute.

Those people we rescued mistook us for Seed, which means they were most certainly thinking about Seed.

And lo and behold, Seed were running around the place, appearing out of nowhere and then disappearing into nothing.

It's... too much of a coincidence.

"What do you mean their thoughts become real? How is that _possible_? Hey, you think that's how the Seed we fought got there?"

"Has to be. Things just don't line up like that on its own. So that whole place then..."

"Exactly! It's a facility for a subspace experiment!"

Well, everything certainly came together in a jiffy. Not only do we now know why there were SEED there despite their containment...

We also figured out why those people were taken. As fighters, they're bound to have the most vivid memories of the Seed...

But it still doesn't explain how this helps the man in black's goals. Is all this just a diversion then? His method of a sick joke?

"Mind cutting us in on yer little talk over there? What's this about Seed?"

"Oh, we... uh, encountered Seed in Mt. Elbars. They were appearing out of thin air, and dissolves into nothing when killed."

"Huh."

I think Kraz might need a cup or two of coffee after this. Or perhaps booze might work better for him, I don't know.

All I can say is that he's not having the best of days right now.

"The Seed are confined, so that leaves this... thoughts becoming real bullcrap as our best explanation for now. And you also said they disappear?"

"She did. Vanishes without a trace when being taken down."

"Hn. Matches the reports we've heard about the phenomenon. Sigh. Guess this means I hafta believe you lot then."

O-kay then. That happened.

I guess my reaction was pretty subdued. I was immobilized after all. Not that I'd overreact or anything.

Emilia? Not so much. She went silent from severe shock for five whole seconds before bolting off her chair.

"Huh?! You mean it?!"

"If this man in black is behind it all, catching him would be the quickest way to clear things up. The connections with Inhelt are still pretty thin. Time we thickened 'em up a bit. You four should get some rest. Leave this to me."

Kraz started walking out of the room after that, opening the door but was halted by Emilia grabbing his arm.

"You really believe what I told you, Boss? Even without any proof?"

"For the last time, YES! Now let go and let me do my job!"

He yanked his arm away and quickly exited the room, leaving behind a gaping Emilia.

"He really believed me... He stood there with a straight face, and he didn't even get upset. Well, not till the end anyway. Hee-hee!"

Emilia giggled to herself, obviously overjoyed that our second go around with Kraz went well beyond our expectations.

To be honest, I didn't also think that we'd accomplish so much from this debriefing. Goes to show what a simple exchange of information can do for you.

"It's kinda... weird. I don't know how to describe it, but it feels... good? Anyway, I feel like celebrating! Hey, Yut, let's get some pudding!"

"... Pudding? Err, okay!"

Well, Yut snapped out of that depressed state easily enough. I'd guess he's still bummed out that he couldn't retrieve the Codex, but hey, we can always try again.

But first, we'll have to get stronger. He's clearly determined to try.

"Don't worry, Kara, we'll bring you something!"

And they were both out the door, rushing for the cafe and leaving me on my own.

Come to think of it, Red came into the room too, didn't she? Did she leave earlier?

One look into the corner, however, told me that, no, she didn't leave.

"Finally."

 **ooo000ooo**

 **II**

 **ooo000ooo**

Red moved away from the wall she was leaning on, walking towards my bed and putting her hands inside her hoodie's pockets.

I expected her to have some sort of remark about my injuries but, no, nada. She just looked me straight into the eyes, not even a hint of her usual smirk or grin.

"You just gonna stare at me till I melt, shortstuff?"

"... why?"

"Come again?"

Red didn't immediately answer after that, her expression remaining serious.

Okay, not weird or unsettling at all.

After a while, she spoke again.

"Why'd you take the hit for me?"

It took me a moment before I realized what she meant.

Back in Moatoob. When the man in black tried to attack her, I instinctively threw myself in the way and summoned my battered shield.

Which I knew wouldn't hold against an attack from someone like the man in black.

Even _I'm_ surprised. When did I start playing the hero? Things never end well when you do that. Just look at what happened to me.

But if I didn't, then, Red would've been the one to get injured or quite possibly killed.

Suddenly I was grateful that I did what I did.

"To be honest, I don't know. My body moved on its own, or whatever."

"Cut the crap. There must be a reason. Tell me. Was it because I saved you when we fell? Because I came to assist you when that dude was wiping the mountain with your face?"

All of the sudden, I felt very annoyed. Why was she being this insistent on the matter?

Clearly, this was the best outcome we could've gotten out of the situation.

And even if she didn't do all those things for me, I probably still would have saved her anyway.

"Nah, it's because you kept me from freezing? That would have sucked."

"... you're full of shit."

"That I am."

Red didn't laugh, snicker, or grin, like she usually would have done after an exchange like that. I may not have known her for long, but I know her _enough_ to be able to tell that she's not being herself.

Instead, she just released a sigh.

"Fine, don't tell me. I guess I owe you then."

"No, you don't. You're my teammate, Red. Didja really think I would let you die? Hell, _you_ didn't let _me_ die. Why would you think I'd do any different?"

"I thought for sure I irritated you and Emilia pretty thoroughly at this point."

No doubt about Emilia being thoroughly irritated towards her, but she still cares because she's Emilia.

As for me, I'm more desensitized towards her trolling.

And would you look at that, she's self-aware.

Anyway, I'm indifferent most of the time but I'm _not_ cold-hearted.

I tried to get up from my current position and everything started hurting.

Not as bad as when I tried earlier but it still stings.

"What are you doing?"

"Just sitting up. My back's itching like crazy. Hey, scratch it for me."

"I'll scratch it with my saber, how's that sound?"

Geez, it was a joke. And here I thought she's indebted towards me. Was it all a lie?

After a few seconds, I was able to get up and maintain a sitting position, feeling the sweat that accumulated on my back for as long as I was laying there.

"... do you really need it scratched, though?"

"Ye- I mean, no! What are you doing? Stay right there!"

Damn it, you midget, are you really _that_ in a hurry to repay that debt?

Thankfully, she didn't push the issue.

With that fiasco out of the way, I stretched my right arm with a great deal of effort, my left one still slinged up.

I looked towards my left and noticed that Red was still hanging around.

"D'you need something else?"

"Huh? Eh, no, not really. Just, you keep calling me that."

"What? Red? Isn't that what you told us to call you? Not close enough for your real name, remember?"

"... Akane Shiroryu."

Better be _some_ name. She's being so secretive about it, and I can't think up of any reasons as to why...

Hey, _wait_.

"What'd you say?"

"Akane Shiroryu. That's my name."

"Akane... Shi... roryu?"

I couldn't say anything. My mind went completely blank after that, and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why.

There's... something.

Something about that name.

Shiroryu. It's definitely Neudaizian _but_...

" _That's_... it sounds... awfully familiar. You _did_ say Shiroryu, right? You from Neudaiz?"

"You... you know about the Shiroryu?!"

Red suddenly got in closer, her face just a few inches away from mine.

I'd have slightly freaked out if I wasn't still befuddled by a name I'd never heard before.

"I think... no? It's just... I _feel_ like I know that name. Nothing's just coming up in my memory about it. Um, why are you so close?"

Red's eyes widened ever so slightly, and she instantaneously backed away, a very _very_ slight tinge of red on her cheeks.

"Sorry, I guess I got carried away."

"It's fine. So, why would it be a big deal if I knew about the Shiroryu?"

Red crossed her arms and closed her eyes, looking like she's internally debating on what she was gonna answer.

After a while, she sighed and her shoulders drooped down.

"It's because... you remind me so much of someone I'm looking for."

Someone she's looking for?

Red took my silence as an indicator to continue.

"Back before I met you and Emilia, the reason I was freelance was so I could scour the system on my terms, and to earn some cash as well."

So that's why.

At first, I thought it was because she wasn't the type to play well in a team or partnership, but our previous mission destroyed that notion for me.

"So the reason you joined Little Wing..."

"It's because Little Wing is the most hands-off mercenary firm I could find. With the recent dwindling of the system's resources, it was really hard to keep being freelance _and_ travel Gurhal."

I can certainly attest to that. Not only did payment get lower, prices for supplies and transportation went up as well.

Red continued her story.

"I'd already submitted an application form to Little Wing when I decided to visit Parum for a while. And wouldn't you know it, there's this guy who was so familiar, struggling against a De Ragan along with his partner."

"That was not my best moment. Can you _not_ bring it up?"

"Heh. So, I killed the dragon for you, etcetera etcetera. And then stuff happened, and you didn't recognize me, at all."

Come to think of it, when I look back, Red didn't seem particularly interested when I was introducing ourselves to her.

If she was expecting someone else, then I'm impressed she managed to hide her disappointment that well. Though I really shouldn't be, I think.

"So, this person you're looking for... who was he to you?"

"... sort of a brother, I guess. We grew up together so there's that."

I thought she wouldn't indulge me with that question, but surprise surprise, Red's being completely open with me today.

So, someone important, huh? I guess she must have felt really disappointed when it was just me. I can't blame her, though, that'd be pretty dickish of me to hold that against her.

"You two look so alike, y'know? Down to the hair color. He's Beast, too. Just different hairstyle and fashion sense. You're not the same personality-wise, but we'd get into some banter too from time to time. That's one more reason you remind me of him. Are you sure you're not him with amnesia?"

"Actually, I think I am. C'mon, Akane, call me big bro."

" _Creepy_. Don't ever do that again."

Everyone's a critic.

Anyway, I certainly don't remember having a redhead sister figure, or any sister for that matter.

If it turns out I'm Red's missing person with amnesia, wouldn't that be the coincidence of the century?

Anyway, any historical alignment of the stars aside, it's probably just that. A massive coincidence.

And I probably just heard the name Shiroryu from somewhere too.

"Do you have a name for your person?"

"Hikaru."

Hikaru... Nope, doesn't ring any bells.

Red must have noticed from the expression on my face, and sighed for the third time.

I get that she would have thought that I, at the very least, knew something, from my reaction to the name Shiroryu.

But aside from the faint familiarity of it, there's nothing coming up.

"Sorry for not having much for you. Sounds like you've been searching for so long."

"Nah, it's fine. I didn't really expect much, no offense. To be honest, after I joined Little Wing, searching for him's been on the back of my mind for the most part."

"Hm? Why's that?"

"Well, I guess I'm having fun while I'm here. That's what he would have wanted, anyway. _If_ he's still out there, of course."

Red smiled. This time, it wasn't a teasing grin or a condenscending smirk.

It was a genuine smile. And I felt myself smiling too. Just a little bit.

"So, anyway, thanks for listening, meatshield. Felt nice to get that off my chest."

"Back to nicknames, are we, Akane? And what chest, Akane? There's nothing there, Akane."

"... Oh, is your back still itchy? Here, let me _help_ you!"

"Hey! Hey, _stop_! Get _off_! Help! Help, I'm being _assaulted_!"

"Hold still so I can _scratch_ you!"

Somebody, help! I'm being physically assaulted by a child!

 **ooo000ooo**

 **III**

 **ooo000ooo**

We left the infirmary after that. Or so I say, but we actually got thrown out because we were noisy.

Or I should say that _Red_ got thrown out and I got myself cleared to leave. That solitary room will be the end of me and I haven't even been concsious in there for an hour.

So I got myself a proper cast for my arm and put on a shirt.

Me and Red were currently making our way towards the cafe. We still had one more thing to talk about, and even though the infirmary would've been a better location, I was itching for some coffee.

"Say, Red... Or should I call you Akane?"

"Call me Red unless we're alone."

Okay, then. Although I don't quite understand why she's hesitant to being called by her real name. She divulged that information to me, after all. Willingly, I might add.

I'm still at a loss as to why. Did shielding her from a lethal attack cause her trust in me to skyrocket?

In any case, I'll just keep on calling her Red unless I want to annoy her. It's not even a _good_ codename, to be honest. "Akane" literally means the _color_ red.

And as for her sort-of-brother's name, "Hikaru", if I remember correctly, means something along the lines of _"bright_ _new_ _light"._ Just something of a trivia for myself.

"Hey, meatshield, I _do_ have something else to ask you."

"Quit it with it the meatshield or I'll invoke your name in public... no, in front of _Emilia_."

"Sheesh, can't take a little bit of harmless fun?"

Red raised her hands in mock surrender, her carefree attitude returning in full force.

At least now I have something else on my sleeve to keep her in line.

"Anyway, I'm not sure if you noticed, but back when we were fighting the guy in black, your eyes started glowing crimson again, just like back in Inhelt."

Did they?

I... honestly didn't notice.

Although I suppose that explains how I was suddenly able to keep up with the man in black, if only temporarily.

That's the third time now that happened. First, back in the Crodog region against the Bag Degga. The second was in Inhelt like Red mentioned. And now against the man in black. I still have absolutely _no_ explanation on why or what it is.

"Well, whatever it is, it wasn't enough."

"What a downer. Hey, have you tried activating your secret power-up _intentionally_?"

Wait, now that she mentioned it...

I closed my eyes and focused, which was about the only way I could think of to activate it.

Nothing.

"Huh. Worth a shot, I guess."

"Maybe so. But I can't rely on it. So far, it's only happened during life threatening moments. And I'd very much rather _not_ get into those just to activate it."

"So, no tests?"

"No tests."

At least try and hide your disappointment. What are you, a sadist?

The conversation pretty much died after that. There was still so little we knew about the phenomenon that all we can do is theorize.

Add that to the fact that it's something to do with me and I know next to nothing about it. So it's pretty uncomfortable to talk about it.

I'd rather improve myself than depend on a "power-up" that may or may not come.

After a few minutes of silent walking, we eventually got to the cafe. It wasn't packed today, so it was perfect for a conversation about a sensitive topic. Well, not perfect, but at least ideal.

We went over to the counter and I ordered my usual. Meanwhile, Red...

"A milkshake?"

"Got a problem with it?"

I took a sip from my coffee, savoring the rich blend of sweetness and bitterness while Red drank her... her...

"... _milkshake_."

"Don't judge me! Im still...! still...!"

"... still growing?"

"You shut it, _coffee boy_!"

We almost got thrown out for the second time in less than an hour.

Why is it that everytime I bring along someone to this place, I can't drink my coffee in peace? Also, I'm ignoring the fact that I was the one who started the banter.

We drank our respective drinks in silence for a short while.

"So... you gonna start or what?"

Red asked in a bored tone.

Of course, I had no intention of breaking my promise to tell her the whole story.

It just wasn't exactly an easy story to tell. I wasn't stalling, it was just... hard to start.

"Alright, if I'm gonna explain it to you, I'm going to have to tell you from the start."

Red nodded understandingly. Well, here we go...

I let out a deep breath, and started my story.

"Long story short, I died."

I could tell Red didn't expect that, at least, not completely.

In theory, I could have started with why I was at the relic site, how I met Emilia, or whatever. But all that would do is lengthen an already lenghty tale.

So I'm going to keep things short and sweet.

"You... _died_. As in ' _died_ ' died?"

"Yup."

"And you're being weirdly nonchalant about this, _why_?"

"I had time to get used to it. Moving on. Ever heard of Ancients?"

Red looked at me unbelievingly for a short while, before hesitantly nodding in response.

"Well, they have this thing called Project Renaissance. Basically, they placed their consciousness in a pocket of subspace called Maghara."

"So, some sort of hibernation?"

"Yeah, technically. And now they're planning on taking everyone's bodies for their own, effectively killing off every single person in Gurhal."

"... O- _kay_ then. I'm assuming the guy we fought was the leader?"

"Yep. He needs three keys to open Maghara. He already has one, which was the Land-Mother Yut was so hell-bent on retrieving."

Which was one thing that confused me a bit. Why did he need to kidnap people and use their thoughts to summon Seed? If what he needed were the keys?

It was still something we've yet to connect with everything else, so I decided to continue on with the story for now.

"So, we try and stop him before he gets all three. Which we failed _spectacularly_ at, by the way. But hey, while we wait for news on him, we can try and get stronger so it's not so embarrassing the _next_ time."

"You're pretty edgy, aren't you? Anyway, how do you know all this? And you still haven't explained how you're still here if you died."

"Well, it's good that you asked because I can answer both questions in one go. It's all because of Mika."

"Mika? Who's that? Have I met her before?"

"Technically yes, but no. Mika's the Ancient that's currently residing within Emilia."

Red almost did a spit take. Almost.

Careful, you don't want to waste your precious milkshake that's so vital for your growth.

"I thought the Ancients wanted to take over?"

"Well, I guess she's the _only_ sensible Ancient around. She's basically sharing a body with Emilia to help stop the apocalypse, and she can project herself outside of Emilia's body as well."

"Wait, so all of those times I caught bolthead talking to thin air... She was actually talking to... _Mika_? Wait, I've noticed both you and the wild kid talk to nothing before. What's with _that_?"

Well, she's certainly a perceptive one. I'm honestly a bit surprised she hasn't connected all the dots yet with how much of a blabbermouth my partner is.

Anyhow, here comes the fun part.

"So, I died. I told you that, right?"

"I'm still weirded out by how indifferent you are about dying but yeah, you did."

"Good. It was actually through trying to save Emilia. I guess Mika heard Emilia's pleas and used her Ancient powers to revive me. So now, we have this sort of link."

"So you were already a self-sacrificing idiot before. Good to know. And the jungle boy? He died too?"

"Nope. We actually met you before him, now that I think about it. Anyway, it's something to do with the Kasch's advanced senses, or some mystic mumbo jumbo. So, theoretically, all Kasch can see or talk to Ancients not completely taking over a host body."

I've put a bit of thought into that one. I was at first questioning how non linked or attuned people could see or hear the man in black, but I realized that he _wasn't_ sharing a body with his host.

He was completely dominating the control over the body, something he himself admitted to Mika.

Although he _did_ mention something about the consciousness of the body's owner still being there.

So, in theory, should Mika take over Emilia, at least temporarily, she'd be able to talk to Red or even Kraz. Food for thought.

"Well, that's about it, I think."

"Wait, the kidnapped people. What's with that?"

"That's something we still have no explanation for yet. All we know is he's using the _'thoughts becoming real'_ side effect of subspace to summon Seed. As for the _why_ , nothing."

"I see. That's... a lot to take in. Suppose I don't believe you for now, I'm still roped into all this anyway, aren't I?"

"Pretty much. Same thing happened to me, and I've gotten tired of complaining long ago."

Red sat in silence after that, obviously not having an easy time taking in everything I said.

I honestly couldn't blame her.

Red's everyday life just got much more complicated just because of a freak encounter with the man in black.

It can also be argued that it was because she met _us_.

Just like how my world turned completely upside down because I got trapped inside a relic site with Emilia.

Everything started with that girl, it seems.

"Emilia! I wanna ask you something!"

"My, such intellectual curiosity! Go ahead, ask away, and I shall answer you to the best of my abilities!"

"What's the Communion of Gurhal?"

"... right! Seeya!"

"Wait, Emilia! Where are you going?!"

Yeah, _that_ girl.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **IV**

 **ooo000ooo**

I watched my partner sprint away from the surprised Yut standing by the cafe's entrance.

Look at this fool, running away after talking a big game.

In theory, I could have given either of my teammates a hand. I chose to drink my coffee instead.

I could tell Red had the same idea.

"Hey! You two are just gonna _ignore_ me?!"

Yup.

"Emilia! You haven't told me what the Gurhal Communion is yet! What kinda place is it?"

"Err, that's a tough question..."

Go ahead, do your best to answer the kid with such intellectual curiosity.

Red raised an eyebrow at me for a moment but went back to sipping on her milkshake.

Don't even try to hide that amused smile, you troublemaker.

"You know what a photon is, right?"

"Um, the... energy at the... heart of Gurhal's... civilizations?"

"Err, yeah. You _sure_ you understand those words? On second thought, never mind."

I'm not sure where she's getting the confidence to belittle Yut's vocabulary like that.

And for the record, this coffee is amazing.

"Basically, photons are everywhere. They're particles that react to our spiritual energy."

Look at that, she did her homework.

She's not wrong. Photons are what allows us to do what we do most of the time. Ambient energy that amplifies what little power we can produce by ourselves.

That's why Photon Arts are called us such. Technics and Mirage Blasts draw their power from photons too.

"Anyhow, the Communion of Gurhal is a religious order that believes photons are a kind of 'holy light' from the stars."

Yut's face scrunched up in confusion, looking like that wasn't the answer he was expecting.

I'm not even sure why he's asking about the Communion of Gurhal _now_. The mission we did there feels like ages ago.

"Photons as a holy light? They _worship_ energy? Why the heck would they do _that_?"

"No, it's not that, it's... actually, you know what, I have no idea."

There it is. She finally admits it.

I knew she could do it.

"C'mon, intellectual, don't leave our poor jungle boy hanging."

"Shut up, Red, I'm wracking my brain here!"

I guess Red couldn't help herself. When she spots an opportunity to rile someone up, you can bet she'll take it.

In any case, I'm at the very least glad that she's back to her normal self. It was really weird for her to be so serious.

"Alright, Yut, here's what I think! It's less worship and more thankfulness. Kinda like... Thanks, o photons! For giving us all this energy!"

Well, that's actually pretty apt but... with Emilia saying it, it sounds like she's blaspheming.

It's really amazing how she can talk about distortions in magnetic fields, learn the Kasch's language in five minutes, and discover a holograph through pattern deduction but fumble at explaining the basis for a religion.

I'm just... Im just at a loss here.

"Way to sum up an entire belief system, blondie."

"Why not?! I'm doing my best here!"

"Are you really? _Thanks, o photons_?"

"So what if it's a bit of a stretch? Sometimes you just gotta go for it!"

I'm not so sure that's the moral lesson here.

"I don't understand all of it. But basically, they're just thanking the natural world around them?"

Yut looked enlightened, and at the same time, befuddled. I'm not sure I can hold that against him.

Realizing that she bit off more than she can chew, Emilia sighed.

"Sorry you don't understand, Yut, but that's just about as good as I can do. I think you got the general drift right, anyhow."

See, that's improved maturity right there. I'm actually quite proud.

Yut, though, looked like he got the explanation he wanted, judging from the happy expression on his face.

"It's okay! That doesn't sound all that different from what the Kasch believe, actually. We thank nature too!"

That lifted Emilia's spirits up. Although, instead of boasting like I expected her to, she just smiled warmly.

"Well, it's good to be thankful, don't you think so, Kara?"

I looked at her for a second on reflex and immediately returned to drinking my coffee, which was now disappointedly running out.

Don't drag me into this mess.

Emilia must have noticed my predicament, evidenced by her being induced with a fit of giggles.

"Well, I got what I wanted to know! I'm off to get something to eat! Thanks, Emilia! See you later, Kara and Red!"

I'm not sure if he knew that this cafe _was_ where you get something to eat. He ate here before. If he forgot then that's on him.

"Nice going there, blondie."

"Oh, shut _up_ , would ya? You didn't even help! And that goes _double_ for you, partner!"

What did you want me to do? Really, you brought this on yourself.

I'm thinking of getting a second cup because Emilia looked like she still wasn't done.

"And what's this? I thought you'd be resting up but you're just grabbing coffee here with the shortstick?"

"Watch it, bolthead."

"I got myself cleared to leave. I needed a bit of a stretch."

"Then you should have waited for me! I even said I'll bring you something!"

Oh, right. With that unexpectedly serious talk with Red, the thought completely slipped away from my mind.

My bad, then. I gave Emilia the best apologetic look I could.

She still looked at me cross.

I'm not getting the problem here. What's wrong with going out for something to drink? My throat's dry and frozen from all that snow and ice.

"Because we _totally_ didn't get kicked out."

"No, _you_ got kicked out."

"And _you_ followed me. Same thing."

It's really not.

Emilia watched us curiously, some questions hanging on her tongue.

Thankfully, she decided against them and just shook her head, still bewildered for some reason.

"Well, you're welcome to join us. Just don't order coffee again, we all know how _that_ went."

"I know, don't worry. It's just..."

Just what?

Emilia sighed and continued in a smaller voice, barely audible if not for my enhanced hearing.

"... you said you'd take _me_ out..."

Oh. I guess I did say that. And was there an odd tone in there somewhere?

Before I could say anything else, I saw a flash of misheivousness on Red's face as she heard Emilia.

And slowly but surely, her trademark smirk started to form.

"Oh? Is that... jealousy I hear?"

"W- _wha_? No, it isn't! Why would you _think_ that?"

"Hm? I wonder?"

"Yes, wonder! Because I'm _not_! Definitely not of _you_!"

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?!"

Looks like Red's slowly starting to get susceptible to Emilia's retorts. Although since Emilia herself is also getting irritated, it's not much of a win.

In any case, if I wasn't before then _now_ I'm seriously considering getting a second cup. They didn't look like they were finished or even close to finishing.

"It means _exactly_ what it means!"

"That doesn't even make _sense_. Just admit that you wanted Kara to take you out!"

"Only because he _said_ so!"

"And you didn't _like_ it?"

"I _did_! I mean, I _didn't_! Gah! I don't know, just shut up!"

"Shut up about _what_?"

"That I'm upset that Kara took _you_ out instead of _me_! Because I'm _not_!"

Excuse me?

I gently placed my empty cup back onto the table and gulped down the contents of my mouth before I could spit it out.

Safe to say I wasn't expecting that. Good thing there weren't many people or we'd have caused quite a ruckus.

"Well, you said it, not me."

"You... _You_!"

"Hey, hey, Emilia, _stop_!"

I quickly rushed out of my seat to restrain the livid Emilia, who looked just about ready to charge the grinning Red.

I gave the milkshake girl a dirty look.

"Hey, chill, it was just a joke!"

" _You're_ a joke, you annoying _little_...!"

Hmm... it's been a while since Red irritated Emilia to the point that I had to stop her from inflicting great harm upon the little troll.

I get that it's not exactly an ideal time to reminisce but I've gotten so used to trouble like this, it's not even fully registering anymore.

Which got me into thinking about how our last mission went better than I expected.

Well, if we don't count the avalanche, the Seed, and the man in black, that is.

I had some reservations about a mission with all three of Emilia, Yut, and Red. And then Lumia adds up on top of that.

But everyone cooperated rather well. So much that I'm actually in some form of disbelief. Considering how such a short talk between these two just now sparked a nuclear reaction, it's really something.

I'm not expecting similar results in future missions but here's hoping.

Of course, with my arm the way that it is right now, that might have to wait.

And Kraz did give us orders to rest, after all. It's probably safe to assume that there wouldn't be any missions for us for a while.

It only took two days to prove that assumption wrong.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **V**

 **ooo000ooo**

Two days after the Mt. Elbars mission, the four of us were called back into the office.

Emilia stepped into the spacious room with a serious face for once. With every passing day, the severely unmotivated her of the past gradually becomes a distant memory.

I wish I could say the same about my arm, though. Which makes me wonder what exactly we were called for. I can't do any missions in the mean time, and I'm not sure if the others can handle themselves on their own.

Kraz was the one who noticed us first, obviously waiting for us this time. Ursula was standing behind him, and Chelsea was typing away on her desk.

"Ah, there you are."

"Yep. What's the scoop on Inhelt?"

Looks like Emilia's not wasting any time. I guess the whole thing with Kraz believing us this time around really did affect her greatly.

Kraz held up his hands, still just a little bit put-off by Emilia's investment on the matter.

"Take it easy, kiddo, we'll get to that. First things first. Ursula?"

"Right. Inhelt is about to hold an emergency press conference. It's going to be broadcast any minute now. I expect they'll announce their efforts to find new sponsors and lay out their plans. Chelsea, could you turn on the news?"

The happy receptionist obliged with a quick _"oui",_ and switched on the television.

After a few moments, the news programme's little jingle played over the speakers as the purple-haired reporter, Hal, introduced herself.

And the news were exactly as I predicted it would be the moment Ursula said the words _"emergency press conference"._

Due to the things Kraz mentioned the other day, namely, driving the wildlife crazy, and the bizarre thoughts becoming real shtick, well, Inhelt's subspace research is in some deep shit.

Demands to stop it are running rampant. Sponsors are withdrawing left and right. The entire corporation is, figuratively, coming under fire.

The reporter then announced that the CEO, Natsume Shu, will be speaking shortly, along with his son, Shizuru Shu.

I kinda feel bad for the old man. When we met him, he didn't seem to have anything malicious planned when he started his subspace research. He sincerely just wanted to help stop the resource dwindling.

And there he was, on the screen. As expected of a long-tenured businessman, he's keeping his cool very well. But on a closer look, there's a great deal of weariness and misery in his eyes.

And right beside him was his son, Shizuru. I've never really seen the guy before. The CEO's son mostly stays away from the public, but rumor has it that he's been more secluded these past few months.

It's strange, though. He somehow looks familiar to me. He was wearing all-black, and he had this weird hairstyle that almost looks like... like...

"...?!"

" _That's_...!"

"It's him!"

" _Ayyyyieeeeee_!"

The four of us had our reactions but Emilia's has got to take the cake.

I didn't think she would actually _scream_ like that. Or maybe I should have. It's hard to say with this girl.

Kraz flinched back from the sudden outburst, startled out of his wits.

"The heck are you _yelpin_ ' about? I can hardly hear the news over yer racket!"

I honestly had my breath caught up in my throat. Thankfully, Yut _didn't_. The Kasch boy pointed at the speaking Shizuru Shu on the screen...

And dropped the bomb on Kraz and Ursula.

"He's the one who stole the Land-Mother! He's one of the bad guys!"

"Come again?"

Ursula looked at us in bewilderment, looking quizically at the younger Shu to confirm Yut's declaration.

Emilia was next to regain her voice. Impressive, considering how she just screeched her throat off.

"It's him! I'm _sure_ it's him! You've got eyes, Red, Kara. He's the one, right?!"

"It could be a look-alike, people. Is that really the guy who threw us all over the mountain?"

"Like I'd forget that face! Tell them, Kara!"

"... no doubt about it. That's... that's our guy."

" _See_?! The man in black... is _Shizuru Shu_!"

By the looks of things, both Kraz and Ursula had absolutely troubled looks on their faces. Doesn't seem like they're having the best of times processing the information.

Kraz raised his arm to get our attention, but mostly to calm down the increasingly rowdy Yut and Emilia.

"Alright, let's take a step back. Your _"man in black"_ is the son of Inhelt's CEO? The same man who's behind all the missing people? Who attacked the Kasch village and this colony?"

"And took the Land-Mother!"

"That's right."

"Gotta agree with these two over here, boss man. That's the guy."

"They all agree. Seems a _bit_ much for coincidence. What do you think, Kraz?"

Ursula asked the unsettlingly stoic Kraz, still looking calm and collected as usual but at the same time, in distress.

Kraz took a moment before scratching the back of his head with a gruff sigh, breaking the stoic illusion he maintained earlier.

"I think there's more than enough to it to make me wanna dig a lil' deeper. Perfect timing. We were switching to a joint operation, anyway. Seems like a good time as any to take the investigation a different way."

Joint operation?

Before I could ask Kraz what he meant the sound of footsteps tapped on the floor as the offices doors slid open.

And along with it, a familiar figure and voice.

"The Guardians and Little Wing will be conducting investigations into the missing people together."

"Hey... I know that voice!"

"Hello. You look well, Emilia, everybody."

Ladies and gentlemen, for the second time in three days, Lumia Waber.

"I might have known you'd be showing up again!"

"Huh. It's miss monotone again. What's up?"

"Weren't you _listening_? The Guardians and Little Wing are working together now. I'm the liason."

"What's a... liason?"

Well, looks like the trouble trio quickly caught up with, heh, miss monotone. Nice one, Red.

Kraz got our attention once again by a single clap of his hands, grinning at us like he got some work taken off him.

"You know each other? Perfect, she's with you then. Give her the Clad 6 tour."

"A _tour_? Kraz, I was sent here to take part in a joint operation."

"Well, plans change. I got a hot tip I need to look into. _Alone_."

No bets on what he's talking about. Although I do wonder what exactly he's going to look into. We'd already confirmed to him that Shizuru Shu is the man in black, albeit without proof.

But hey, I just do what I told. And perhaps save the System along the way. Or die trying. Ehh, I don't really know.

Lumia didn't look like she liked the change in plans, though.

"I'm a member of the Guardians' Intelligence Division! You think I'd be in the _way_?"

"It's not _that_. Fact is, there're some things best done solo-like. Now, I need to look into this while the lookin' is good. Someone from the _"Intelligence Division"_ should appreciate that. Time is of the essence, and I move faster solo."

" _And_? Do you expect me to just _sit_ here twiddling my thumbs?"

"Hardly. There's one other joint operation we had planned with the Guardians."

In a matter of seconds, Lumia was reduced to grumbling. Had to be seen to believed.

I wonder if she's usually like this? When she's not trying so hard to be dignified all the time?

"The VR battle simulation tests..."

Virtual Reality?

Well, color me surprised. I knew Clad 6 was state of the art but I honestly haven't heard about it having VR.

"What's a VR battle simulation?"

"Our colony is equipped with a virtual reality facility originally intended for entertainment and sports."

Ursula explained for the inquisitive Emilia, patting out in detail what we needed to know.

"A facility like ours can recreate a broad range of environments and scenarios. The simulation we're going to run will recreate battle conditions. You're our test subjects."

"Simulation? Test subjects? I don't think I understand."

Yut voiced his concerns, looking completely lost.

Sometimes, it's easy to forget that Yut never had any interactions with technology like this. For such a spiritually-focused race, this must sound so outlandish for Kasch.

"Well, um... it's basically like fighting in a dream to hone your skills. That about right, guys?"

"Ehh, give or take. You'll feel pain so _that_ part's off base there with the dream comparison. But you don't have to worry about dying or anything, jungle boy."

Emilia and Red explained for the confused Yut, who looked like the answer he got wasn't to his liking.

"There's no way to die? How can training without consequences make you stronger?"

See, it's this daredevil attitude of his that's so problematic. He's usually very cooperative, too.

Kraz let out a tired sigh. Impressive considering how he hasn't even gotten up from his desk yet.

"Look, just try it, okay? It's still experimental so it can only handle four people for now. That means one-armed bandit over here's sitting this one out."

Well, looks like new experiences are gonna have to wait.

It's a shame, really. I was looking forward to stretching my arm despite it's broken state.

See, the one mission I actually wanted to take, and I'm being benched. Lucky.

"Just give it a shot. That goes for our Guardian guest, Emilia, the whole lot of you. Except _you_ , bandit. Get that arm up and running. I'll try to wrap things up on my end by the time you're finished. Now, go on. Git."

We were quickly shooed out of the office. Seems as though there's a time limit on how long Kraz can tolerate youngins in his immediate area. What an old fellow.

"Huh. Bandit. Pretty good. I might use that one."

"Don't even _think_ about it, Red."

"Too _late_ ~!"

Well, we're off to a great start. Or perhaps, that is to say, _they_ are. I'm staying here after all.

"So, good luck, I guess."

"You got it! We'll be back before you know it!"

Well, Emilia's pretty hyped, it seems.

Lumia nodded at me while Yut was still in deep thought about the VR thing. Red just kept snickering at me.

I'm worried about how much of a mess they'll make later. Oh well.

The four of them went on their way, leaving me with an incredible amount of down time. Which is both nice and unbelievably boring.

"Must be dull for you, no?"

I turned around slightly to see Ursula making her way out of the office.

"Kinda, I guess."

"Hmhmm. Did you notice you're the top worker these days, along with your partner? Impressive, considering how recently you joined us."

Really? I haven't actually noticed.

Maybe it's because of all the cleaning up after Emilia I had to do in my early days as a Little Winger. It hasn't happened much recently but I guess my mission log would reflect it all.

"Huh. That's how I roll, I guess."

"Well, I like how you roll, then! I hope you'll continue to roll with us in the future."

Job security, here we come.

That was actually nice to hear, though. I've struggled for three years for stable income. I guess the pros of meeting Emilia outweigh the cons in the end.

Ursula's happy mood turned somber all of a sudden.

"I get the feeling that you're going to fly higher in the future. Hopefully, not away... as others have done."

Huh? Where did this come from?

Ursula recovered quickly, though, burrying the matter in an instant.

"Nevermind. About your partner... or should I say, apprentice?"

"It... varies from moment to moment."

"I see. She's really come along, hasn't she? When she first came here, I never thought I'd see her smile like that _this_ much."

Which is hard to imagine, considering how much she's so carefree nowadays. But I've heard about her pre-me Little Wing days from a lot of people, including Chelsea, and now Ursula.

And also some hints from Emilia herself.

"Stick with her, would you? Trust me. Even when things are looking up, it's hard being alone."

That's the plan for now, I guess. Since I'm basically shoehorned into stopping the Ancients, I don't think I'm going anywhere anytime soon.

And... Emilia's been a constant for a while now that it's a little weird to think about leaving.

"Oh, one more thing before you go. Do we have you to thank for the improvement in Kraz's performance?"

"Err, I think that would be Emilia's doing."

"Emilia? Oh, I don't doubt it. But who do we have to thank for shaping _her_ up, I wonder?"

Well, I guess it's true that I've had a bit of a hand in helping Emilia become more motivated.

But in reality, it's been a combination of me, Yut, Lumia, Red, Mika, the impending apocalypse, and not wanting to be a burden.

It's always the extremes with that girl.

"There's been a marked improvement in both Kraz and Emilia since you showed up. Seeing Kraz investigating on his own again... It's good to see him like that once more."

What was Kraz's life before Little Wing? I'm curious but I guess that's not of importance right now.

"But that was before your time. We have you to thank for turning Kraz, no, all of Little Wing in the right direction. You might be the best thing that's happened to our little outfit."

"Err, best thing might be _too_ much. I'm not sure I deserve _that_ much praise..."

"Don't be afraid to take credit where it's due. Doubt your own worth, and you'll miss out. Or be unable to make a critical decision and end up hurting someone... Well, That's all I wanted to say. Enjoy your time off."

Ursula's somberness retuned for a moment there before she once again brushed it off. And after that farewell, she was on her way. What a busy person.

Well, now I need something to bring me back down to the ground after all the good words Ursula had for me.

I still don't think I'm all _that_ but it's nice to be appreciated.

Now then. What to do? I got nothing but time.


	19. V3 Ch4: Trap Adventure Portable

**I have a perfectly logical and well thought out explanation.**

 **It's** **all the Shield's fault!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 3

In A Virtual Reality Without My VisiPhone!

 **Chapter 4**

 **Trap Adventure Portable**

 **ooo000ooo**

 **I**

 **ooo000ooo**

I wonder what Ursula wanted to say to Kara.

Just before we warped to our ship, I spotted our lady boss moving to approach my partner. I'd ask but we've already been transported.

So, VR, huh?

I gotta admit, I'm kinda excited. It's just one of those things that gets your blood pumping, isn't it?

Although looking around the other people in the ship, I guess not.

Yut was understandable, as he had absolutely no idea what VR was or what it might mean. So I can't blame for not knowing what to expect.

Red looked like she didn't particularly care. Well, it's not like _I_ care what she thinks.

And Lumia, well...

"You could at least pretend that this isn't totally beneath you, you know."

Lumia huffed in response.

"I came to take part in a joint investigation. Not... _this_."

"Hey, don't blame _us_. If the boss wants to go off investigating on his own, we can't do much but wait for him to get back. And as long as we're waiting, we might as well take care of the work he left us, am I right?"

"I suppose so..."

There we go, some motivation to get this done!

Honestly, with Kara not with us, I'm gonna have to do all the nagging, aren't I?

"You don't exactly sound enthusiastic about it, lady."

Red remarked, fiddling with her palette absentmindedly.

Lumia gave her a pointed look in return.

"I'm here on official business, and I will follow Kraz's orders while I am. Enthusiasm is not a factor."

"All business, all the time. You must be a blast at parties."

"A Guardian is expected to remain professional."

Geez, this isn't the first time we've gone on a mission together. Doesn't this girl ever give the act a rest?

Aw, whatever. Dealing with a Guardian is exhausting enough as is, and Lumia sure doesn't make it any easier.

Red didn't reply any further after that. Unbelievably, she's been relatively quiet for a while now.

Is it because Kara's not here?

Come to think of it, she's unexpectedly become quite close with my partner. That's surprising for a few reasons.

Kara's not a very social person, and Red isn't exactly easy to get along with. I don't think they have good compatibility.

And then I find them having a drink at the cafe! Without me! And the way they were talking, you'd think they were old friends or something.

Did something happen without me knowing?

For some reason, that makes me really annoyed.

"What's the nasty look for, blondie?"

Nevermind, she's still insufferable even without Kara.

I must have been subconsciously glaring at her. Well, I don't regret it.

Yut didn't say much the entire short trip. Soon enough, we reached the place where we can try out the simulation.

The proceedings went without much fuss, and once we were set up, the battle simulation began.

'Populating Terrain Mesh. Please stand by'

The system droned out, and the area washed away and was replaced by a lush forest.

It was surreal. Everything looked exactly like it would in real life. In fact, if you didn't pay a closer look, you'd think it _was_ real life.

Quite frankly, it was amazing.

"Woah, so this is virtual reality. It feels like we're right in the middle of a forest."

I whistled out, turning my head to get a closer look at the surroundings.

"I don't sense the trees but I can see them. I don't see the enemies but I can sense them? I don't like it, what is this place?"

Yut was completely baffled. I guess his mystical senses aren't gonna do him any good here. It's basically the opposite of nature.

Even though it's a forest.

Well, I suppose it's up to me to explain to him!

"We're not really here. I imagine that's gonna take a bit of getting used to. Especially for you, Yut!"

His face didn't change in the slightest.

I already explained it, why do you still have that confused expression?

Sigh, I guess the best thing to do is to just let him experience it for himself.

"Think our Guardian friend's gonna lighten up any time soon?"

"My mood is light enough, thank you."

Red whispered to me, but Lumia clearly heard it, immediately rebutting her.

Knowing Red, she probably spoke loud enough for Lumia to hear on purpose. That grin on her face confirms it.

"I treat my assignments equally. I'm more than ready to undertake this one."

Your lips say ready, but your eyes say 'get me out of here'. You're not fooling anybody.

 _Sigh_.

Yut's looking pretty uneasy too. As much as it pains me to rely on Red, looks like me and her are gonna have to pick up the slack.

As if on timing, the system started beeping.

"Huh. Looks like it's starting. I'm actually quite nervous!"

"It's a simulation. There's nothing to fear here."

I was about to say something in response to Lumia's party pooper answer but I was cut off when a blue square appeared on my vision.

It's sort of like a text window in games. How cool is that?

Let's see what it says.

'VR Manual'

'Introduction'

'This is a battle training simulation in which you can receive real fighting experience through virtual reality (VR) simulation. You will not be injured by the attacks from creatures that appear in the simulation, but if you sustain a certain amount of damage, you will be deemed unready for the training and the simulation will be terminated.'

Now that this textbox mentioned it, there was a health bar on the top left corner of my vision. There were three other health bars for my party members too.

This is so amazing! I could feel the adrenaline rising up!

'Features'

'The simulation assigns points for each creature you defeat. The total number of points you and your party members have accumulated when you reach the final goal will be your final assessment for the training simulation.'

'Bonus Round'

'A bonus round is a special challenge that may become available as you progress through the simulation. Defeating a certain amount of creatures within a set time limit will open the way to a bonus round where you will have the chance to greatly increase your score by defeating the creatures within. A successful bonus round is key to achieving a high score.'

Once I've read that last message, the window was replaced by another one, titled 'Score Card'.

Booma Group: 5 points

Go Booma Group: 10 points

Savage Wolf Group: 20 points

Rappy Polec Group: 30 points

Bill de Vear: 40 points

???: 120 points

Woah, what's with the unknown enemy? A boss? With that amount of points it yields, it's gotta be at least a mid-boss.

The window disappeared soon after that, and after a few seconds, the system beeped again. Looks like the others have finished reading the instructions.

A points system, huh? This should be fun! Heehee, I feel bad for Kara. He's missing out!

"Load Complete. Launching Simulation..."

"Complete the VR 'Forest' simulation!"

 **ooo000ooo**

 **II**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Looks like the switches are color coded. Huh."

As soon as went a considerable distance from the starting line, we ran into a wall.

A literal wall.

Of lasers.

Isn't it cool?

At first, it didn't seem much of a wall. It was like those laser walls Kara and I ran into in the relic site, but these weren't as tall as those.

In fact, they only reached up to about my shoulders, so figured we could just jump over or something.

Nope.

It was literally an impassable wall. Even the area above without lasers repelled us like there was something solid stopping us from going over.

The strange thing is that when I tried firing a Tech at it, the attack just went through.

Well, let's just chalk it up to VR weirdness. We've already had the text boxes, let's let them have their Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence.

Of course, once said color-coded switches were hit, the respective laser fences disappeared.

And so, we've made it past our first obstacle!

Immediately after we passed the area, a pack of canine-type monsters, aptly named Savage Wolves, materialized and pounced at us.

This is nuts! No matter how you look at it, this really feels like a game!

Yut wasted no time, letting out a battle cry and charging the wolves. I understand that he's enthusiastic about training but I really wish he'd stop plunging headfirst into the enemy.

Fortunately, it seems like my worries were unnecessary as Yut immediately dispatched one of the wolves, stabbing it with his spear and throwing it at a nearby boulder. The fallen wolf dematerialized in a flash.

Well, don't leave us out!

I summoned a new saber, one that was a newer model than the one I was using to practice with before. I also summoned Kara's old handgun that he gave to me for my birthday.

That's right, Kara may not be here physically but he'll be with us in spirit!

"Alright, let's... hey!"

Before I even had a chance to use my weapons, Lumia and Red disappeared from my side and instantly dispatched some wolves.

And then Yut came back and easily took care of the remaining one.

What's the big idea?! I didn't even get the chance to move!

Before I could voice out my complaints though, a short jingle sounded and a small bar appeared on my vision:

Savage Wolf Group defeated! 20 points awarded!

I focused my attention on the top right corner of my vision, and found a small text labeled Points. Beneath it was the number 20.

Huh. So the points were awarded after a wave of same-type enemies were defeated. That means we had to completely clear out the monsters if we wanted a high rating.

"Good work. Let's move on."

"Hey! Who died, err, got injured and made _you_ leader?!"

Bit harsh on Kara but I needed to get my point across! And what are Red and Yut doing? Don't just nod and do what she says! Last I checked, I was second-in-command!

Wasn't I?

Nonetheless, I got ignored so I had no choice but to run after them. Ugh, so annoying.

For the next wave, we were intercepted by a group of Boomas. Bipedal... er, things. They had large mouths, a horn, and lanky arms. They were ew, for lack of a better word.

"Okay, here's the plan... Oh, not again! _Hey_!"

And the three of them were off, Yut brute forcing his way through the midst of enemies, and Red blitzing around and quickly dispatching them.

And Lumia was, huh, I was wondering why there weren't any Techs being fired. The Guardian girl was using a dagger, it seemed. Looks like I'm not the only one trying out different fighting styles.

That's great and all but who's manning the rear?! She was a Force! That was _her_ job! I was the Vanguard, I was the one who was supposed to be adjusting to a party member's absence!

Ah, enough!

I summoned my staff and began chanting a little bit aggressively.

"Blast them away! **[Rafoie]**!"

The explosion did indeed blast away the remaining Boomas, defeating the ones still running around and awarding 5 points to our total.

We were now at 25.

Immediately, the next wave appeared, consisting of the Boomas' meaner cousin, Go Boomas. And behind us came another pack of Savage Wolves.

They're not putting us through Easy Mode, huh?

And as expected, Yut rushed the ones in front of us. _Sigh_.

I switched back to Kara's favorite weapon combo and started firing at the wolves, deterring their attempt to pounce at us from behind.

Lumia took that as a sign that the wolves were handled, and switched to her own staff. After a short chant, she fired focused beams of light at the Go Boomas that were surrounding Yut.

Red took the Savage Wolves, weaving together a series of graceful slashes against the canines. Ugh, such a showoff.

Okay, lessee, how did Kara do this again?

I set the saber to overdrive and activated a photon art.

" **[Infinite Storm]**!"

With the powerful combo, I was able to defeat three of the wolves almost simultaneously, while Red took care of the remaining ones.

The 20 points were added to our total, and another 10 points accumulated, meaning that Yut and Lumia managed to defeat all the Go Boomas.

"Hey, what's with that fighting style? You trying to replace Kara or something?"

Red asked. What happened to your nicknaming? Stop acting so familiar with my partner!

"It's called branching out! I'm sure even you know what that means!"

"Of course I do. Unlike you, I'm not an idiot."

"Grrr, if you're so talented and smart, o Crimson Hunter, then why aren't you doing it?"

"Eh. I'm much more comfortable with this thing. I happen to like efficiency, you know?"

"That's what branching out's _for_ , you nimrod!"

"What's with the attitude? Sheesh, fine. There, happy?"

Red dismissed her beloved double saber and summoned a pair of twin sabers in its place. Unlike the ones Kara used, however, Red's were pure metal. Didn't she use these momentarily back at Inhelt?

"Look who's not copying Kara. He used twin sabers too, you hypocrite!"

"Hypocrite?! I've had these longer than I've known you! Ugh, whatever. How about a deal?"

"What do you mean?"

"I won't use my double saber as long as you keep your staff benched."

Hey, wait a second, this seems rigged! This little midget's far more experienced than me! I'm the only one who'll suffer!

I was about to deny the deal when Red suddenly scoffed and grinned condescendingly.

"Of courses, that's only if you're not chicken enough to refuse."

"Who's chicken?! Fine, I'll show you!"

"Deal, bye!"

"Huh? H-hey! You set me up!"

Argh, why did I do that?! I really should start keeping my emotions in check. If Kara was here, I'd have received a reprimanding for sure!

I looked at the saber in my hand. Thinking carefully, I could just ignore what just happened and use my staff.

But who knows if Red'll let me live that down. Ugh, fine. Unless I absolutely have to, I'm sticking with the Kara special.

We went on ahead, beating a few more waves and disabling some laser fences. I started thinking to myself that this VR thing was easier than I first imagined it would be. Tee-hee, or maybe I'm just that good?

The next area we arrived to, though, was quite positively...

Well, trapped.

"The heck?"

Laser fences surrounded the entire path, forming some sort of a maze, with the disabling switches behind different colored blockers.

And that wasn't all, there were some sort of mechanism that was a spinning laser on the ground. Oh and seems like there were some levitating bombs dotting the area.

"Think they made enough traps?"

"The movements are timed. And the bombs seem to be activated by contact. They should be easy enough to avoid."

Lumia oh-so helpfully stated, not looking particularly fazed by the absolutely rigged minefield.

"Then what are we waiting for? C'mon!"

"H-hey, Yut, wait!"

Yut waited for no one and ran forwards without a care in the world, forcing us to chase him.

He didn't get far.

His foot grazed one of the spinning lasers and he flashed blue. And then my vision flashed blue as well.

Wuh? Weren't we over there?

Looking at Yut's health bar, he didn't seem to suffer any damage from the contact. But all of us were teleported back to the start of the area.

Great, my teammates aren't listening to me and the system was preaching teamwork at us.

Regardless, I needed to do something about Yut's behavior.

"That's why I said wait! We need to do this together!"

Yut grumbled something in response, but I wasn't able to pick up on it. Come to think of it, he hasn't been very talkative since this entire thing started. He just had this dissatisfied face even as we fought some monsters.

Thankfully, Lumia seemed to agree with me, giving a nod of, well, agreement. Red seems to be onboard with it as well, even though it didn't look like she liked it very much.

Well, what do you want me to do?

"See, we need to go carefully! Like Little Miss Waber over here said, the movements are timed! So we just wait and... There!"

I passed the first obstacle and hit the switch, and the matching fence powered down, which happened to be the one nearest to us.

Unfortunately, it didn't do anything about the teleporting laser blades of doom.

"And then we..."

Before I could finish, I miscalculated and my foot was caught by one of said laser blades.

"Um. Oops."

Lumia just sighed, and Red looked like she wanted to laugh. Which she did.

Ugh, this is so embarrassing...

 **ooo000ooo**

 **III**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Emilia, 9 o' clock!"

"W-wait, which way is-! Gah!"

I felt a sting on my left before I could understand what Lumia wanted to say. We may not be receiving actual damage but it still gives us quite a bit of a jolt when we do get hit.

I saw my health bar go down a bit. That's not bad and all but mine was already at half! Lumia was far better off, Yut wasn't far behind, and Red was practically full! Guess her small figure does come in handy.

Oh, and I should explain how that happened. It wasn't monsters that dealt us this damage. It was turrets. Yeah.

Halfway through the laser obstacle course, turrets popped up from the ground and started shooting lasers at us. I'd be amazed if I wasn't so busy dodging pot shots left and right!

And if that wasn't enough, dodging those lasers also caused us to trigger many of those floating bombs. Which also caused us to get hit by those rotating lasers.

So we were sent back to start. Over and over.

I know this is training, a decent one at that, but did they have to put in so many traps?! Just because they can't kill us, doesn't mean they have to try so hard!

Finally, we made it through. But not without losing a little bit of our sanity every time we had to do the course from the start.

"And I thought we'd never get past. C'mon, boltie, you gotta do better than that."

"Ah, shut up! If you just took out those turrets like I _told_ you to then we wouldn't have been hit so much!"

"Now where's the fun in that?"

I can't believe this. I know I'm partly to blame for getting trapped so much, but if she just used her speed to bust up the turrets then everything would have been peachy!

Ugh. Why'd I have to get stuck with these people? Yut wasn't listening, no matter what I say, and just charges through. And Red was actually making our jobs harder than they have to be!

Is this what Kara feels like whenever we're acting up? I made a resolve to behave better in the future.

"I understand the urge to enjoy the challenge, but this is training. If you have the ability to make it easier for your team, then you have the responsibility to do so."

"If you weren't such a stick in the mud then maybe I would have. And you can use techs. Why push it on _me_?"

"A stick in the... hmph. Your agility far outstrips ours. The traps afforded us no time to stop and fire a tech."

"Sounds like an excuse to me. But fine, fine, whatever."

Hmmm, they both have valid points but Lumia seems to out-logic Red here. We really couldn't gather the time to use techs.

And I feel like Red was just trying to get a rise out of Lumia here. She's not fooling anybody anymore. Thankfully, her serious act came in handy and she didn't fall for it.

But I wonder if Red can someday get a reaction out of Lumia. That'd be a sight.

Any further arguments were cut off when the next wave appeared. But unlike before, it wasn't a group of monsters.

This time, there was only one enemy.

It was huge, easily twice our height. It had a big upper body, and it had huge arms. A Bill de Vear.

To the surprise of absolutely no-one, Yut went straight for the large creature. Red came next, brandishing her peculiar twin sabers.

"Go. I will take the rear."

Finally! Lumia's adjusting! She must have noticed I've been using Kara's weapon choice the past few battles.

That's right! You're taking my spot in this party! Not Kara's!

" **[Deband]**!"

Lumia chanted out, and a small chill entered my body as the Tech's energy washed over me.

Deband was an ice-type tech that raises our defense. The counterpart was the fire-type Shifta, which raises attack.

The Bil de Vear, betraying its huge stature leapt up to dodge Yut's thrust, gaining quite a bit of height.

Red took advantage, rendezvousing in midair and attacked with her sabers. The Bil de Vear didn't seem to mind much, though, and reared back its fist.

Red crossed her sabers to block, and was launched back to the ground. Red's health bar dropped a little more compared from the turrets' attacks. Better not risk getting a direct hit from those powerful arms, even with Deband on.

As soon as the Bil de Vear landed, Yut was already on it, attacking with alternating thrusts and slashes, forcing the large creature on the defensive.

It managed to get in a few hits on Yut, but he was completely unfazed, even as his health bar decreased with every hit. It was completely focused on Yut.

Perfect! I released the charged shot I was holding and blasted the monster, stunning it long enough for Yut to score a strong hit.

" **[Grants]**!"

A beam of light struck down from above, staggering the reeling creature. I took the chance to get close, swiping at its knees to bring it down.

I had the lowest attack power with our current setup, so this was a much better use of the saber. Pretty smart, if I do say so myself!

In a way, even if it's just a simulation, I feel bad for it. As soon as Yut got it defending, it was pretty much overwhelmed.

A pair of blades sprouted from its chest, without a the blood you'd usually associate with such an occurrence. Red leapt away as the giant creature fell down, vanishing instantly.

'Bill de Vear defeated! 40 points awarded!'

That was a lot of points for one enemy! Granted, it was much stronger, but still! The traps were much more of a deterrent!

"This isn't right..."

What was that? Was that Yut? What was he muttering about?

I turned around to see him with a conflicted face, like he's dissatisfied with something. Was he hungry?

"Wazzat? You say something, Yut?"

"This isn't right! None of this is right! I don't feel anything when I bring down an enemy! No pain, no fear! None of it's _real_!"

Woah, this dude has issues. Was it because it's a simulation, we aren't technically in danger?

But ignoring that, it still feels the same as fighting in real life. We still move our bodies. We still spend energy. It still requires the same amount of strength to cut or throw a certain enemy.

All that's different is that we don't get hurt. Is that what he's upset about?

Ah, now I remember back when we were in Neudaiz. He was up on Kara's case about touching death. Said it'd make him stronger. I don't get it, to be honest.

Sigh. What do I say to him then? He's like this because we lost to the man in black, Shizuru Shu. I know at least that much.

"I want to face real pain! I want to face real danger!"

This pain-seeker attitude of his is gonna get him in deep trouble someday. More so than his usual recklessness.

"You never know, it might get better further in. Might be monsters bigger than the one we just fought, who knows? Maybe even giant monsters!"

"Giant monsters?! What are we waiting for then?! We aren't getting any tougher standing here! I haven't liked this place from the start!"

"H-hey, where are you going!? Wait, we need to stick together! Argh!"

Maybe that was the wrong thing to say? Oh, brother. Yut's become a real pain to deal with. I'm gonna double down on that resolve to make Kara's job easier.

"He'll be fine. This is all a simulation, remember?"

"Simulation or not, I don't like the idea of him fending for himself."

"I don't see the problem. If he dies, he dies."

...

What?

I felt anger boiling up within me. If he dies, he dies? What the heck kind of thinking was _that_?

Lumia just stared back at my glare with a face that screams 'was it something I said?'. Cut the crap. Even Red's expression changed.

"If he dies, he dies, huh? _Wow_. Your bedside manner sure could use some work."

If I wasn't so angry, I'd probably have been appalled by my choice of words back there. But I got my point across.

Lumia's eyes widened in shock, as if she just now realized what she said that ticked me off.

"I... I didn't mean... You're taking it the wrong way."

"Whatever. Can we just go find Yut, please? Red, let's go."

"Uh... roger."

I ignored the look of... sadness? Regret? Whatever it was that reflected on Lumia's eyes as I turned my back on her.

She didn't apologize then.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **IV**

 **ooo000ooo**

After we cleared the area with traps, we came across a moderately large clearing. The system seemed to be initiating something, as a small beeping sound could be heard as soon as we set foot in said clearing.

'Bonus Round initializing'

Oh! So this is the bonus round the instruction manual was talking about!

"Hey, guys. I think something's starting."

One by one, groups of enemies appeared throughout the area, ranging from Savage Wolves, Boomas, Go Boomas, and Bil de Vears. All enemies that we've beaten before, only this time, it was all at once.

Well, you lose, you snooze! Or was it the other way around? Eh, it doesn't matter!

We split up to take on different groups, with Yut, you guessed it, heading for the Bil de Vears. Lumia targeted the Boomas, and Red went for the Go ones, leaving me to fend for the wolves. Quite literally.

I used the handgun to break them up a bit. I don't think a saber will let me win a one to many fight!

And so the fight began. But even with the numerical disadvantage, we still managed to stay in control of the simulation.

The Bil de Vears, even with their size, were unable to catch Yut long enough to use their superior brawn on him. Lumia blasted the Boomas with her techs, and Red honestly didn't experience a drop-off in efficiency by switching to twin sabers.

And as for me...

" **[Infinite Storm]**!"

That may be the only saber Photon Art I knew, but it was highly effective against groups! Not to brag, but I think I'm getting good with this thing!

The Savage Wolves fell one after another, not standing a chance against the serious me. If it was a few weeks ago, I probably would have been in trouble!

I still prefer techs, though, but this isn't so bad!

Our points total went up and up as we took down more enemies, and then...

"Huh? That an enemy?"

We were approached by beige colored, penguin-like bird... things? I think the manual called them Rappy Polecs or something. Well, they certainly didn't look like the normal yellow Rappy. They were still cute, though!

But whatever they were here for, it certainly wasn't for a picnic. One of the things reared back and shot a ball of light at me before I could react to it.

"Ow!"

My health bar dropped significantly enough that I had to use Resta for recovery. Red didn't say anything about using the staff for healing!

But why me, specifically?! Yut was closer, for crying out loud!

In the end, despite being more slippery than the previous enemies, we still managed to clear the wave, although not without a little heartache.

I get that it's just a simulation, but you can't deny that they were cute! Even though one of them basically sucker punched me...

Once the last Rappy Polec fell, the system let out a little jingle.

'Bonus Round completed!'

"Huh. I knew I had it in me!"

"Chill out, boltie. That wasn't even a warm-up!"

"Ah, let me have my fun, would ya?"

Red had a point, though. I know it's the first level, but couldn't they have put in tougher enemies? She didn't look like she broke a sweat, and Yut still looked discontent. I hoped he wouldn't run away again.

And Lumia, well, I'd rather not think about her for now. But she did clear out a number of them so... good, I guess...

So what happens now that we've cleared the Bonus Round? Extra points? Because we still received the same points we would have had we defeated those enemies normally.

As if to answer my question, the system materialized what seemed like a glowing... warp portal?

"Do we use that? Your call, boltie."

"I don't see any other way forward. And it's not like we're gonna get hurt anyway!"

I'm a little surprised Red's asking me what to do, but maybe she's just seen how awesome I was and decided to let me take charge! Ha!

Like the leader I am, I touched the portal thingie and was immediately transported to a different clearing. This one was surrounded by trees on all sides.

"Aw, it wasn't a trap..."

"So _that's_ why! Ugh."

I guess it was a foolish dream that Red would behave. But you didn't have to act so disappointed! I know it's a simulation but that's just disturbing!

I shook my head in exasperation before continuing on. Seems like we were all teleported when I touched that thing. Guess she didn't think about all of us being trapped at once.

Now I'm slightly wishing that it was indeed a trap. Is that horrible of me?

My thoughts were interrupted when more Rappies appeared. But these were different. They were orange and had drills for beaks. Sand Rappies, I think they were called!

As if on cue, they all spun their drill beaks and flew at us, catching us by surprise.

Some of them grazed us, and holy Booma! Our health bars dropped a lot more than I was comfortable with! These things were dangerous!

Yut charged, as usual, and met one of the Rappies mid-flight. Sparks flew as spear collided with drill, and Yut broke the stalemate by flinging his spear, sending the bird flying a different direction.

He then switched to his bow and finished off the dazed Rappy. Huh. So he's switching it up too, I guess.

" **[Grants]**!"

Lumia used her seemingly favorite tech and blasted the approaching Rappies.

Something caught my attention, and I turned around and blasted a Rappy with the handgun. Heh! You're not catching me with sneak attacks!

I followed up with a slash and then finished it off with a thrust.

'Sand Rappy group defeated! 120 points awarded!'

120 points! My eyes bulged out a bit when the textbar appeared. So these were the ???'s in the Score Card!

"These are worth some major points!"

No time for celebrations yet, though. More Rappies appeared. Well, more points for us! As long as we're careful, were breaking whatever records there are!

Yut's looking a little better, but he's still far from the boisterous bruiser he was when we were on missions. Is not feeling pain really that bad of a thing?

The points piled up, and soon we were out of the clearing when another portal thing appeared.

"Whew. That was a rush. Better than the earlier enemies, wouldn't you say, jungle boy?"

"... it's still not enough. I still haven't had enough pain! This isn't making me stronger!"

"Geez, you seriously need a chill pill."

"He really does, doesn't he?"

I sighed. I didn't even realize that I agreed with Red on something. Yut's just an accident waiting to happen. I wonder if Kara could have snapped him out of this.

Lumia's been strangely quiet, too. She wasn't the most talkative person, but she'd still chime in from time to time, or so I think. But she wasn't saying anything aside from tech chants.

Had I gone too far? I know she didn't mean what she said, from how she reacted when I got angry. But can you blame me?

You don't just say 'if he dies, he dies'! That's like, the number one rule of a party! We're all in this together!

"Hey. I think this is another trapped area."

Red called out from in front. I guess I fell behind during my pondering. I took a look at what Red was pointing to.

And sure enough, it was another laser-lover's paradise area. And if that wasn't enough, the maze seemed to be even more complicated. And there were even monsters this time.

"Oh, brother..."

"Heh. Don't blow a fuse. I'll handle the turrets."

 _Thank_ you.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **V**

 **ooo000ooo**

I stand by my opinion that the traps were much more of a challenge than the monsters.

"Hey, Red! Hit that switch over there, wouldja!?"

"Little busy here! These turrets won't stop coming back!"

I watched Red lithely dodge through numerous laser beams, before thrashing one of the turrets with a one-two slash.

Meanwhile, I was trapped between a wall of lasers. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and hit a switch I shouldn't have.

"I'm on it!"

Lumia shouted out and triggered the correct switch, releasing me from the trap. She then jumped away from a bomb she triggered.

I managed to cool down from my earlier outburst, so I shot her a grateful look. No point fighting over ourselves when we could be finishing this simulation!

"Thanks!"

I turned around to see Red disable another turret, lessening the amount of laser beams flying through the air.

I welcomed it wholeheartedly. There were so many beams everywhere that it was ridiculous! I had to keep a constant stream of Resta at one point and that's not a plan I'm comfortable with!

"Alright, let's- _huh_!?"

We were suddenly transported back to the start of the area.

"Okay, who triggered that?!"

"Wasn't me."

"It was not me as well."

Red and Lumia denied, looking believable enough. I'd suspect Red first but I could see even she was starting to run out of patience.

Then that leaves...

"Tsk."

"Don't 'tsk' me! If you weren't rushing all those enemies then we wouldn't be having such a hard time!"

Yut didn't seem to be in the mood to listen, and ran off again. He was able to dodge the warp lasers well enough, but when he starts wrestling with the monsters, he's bound to slip up.

The good thing is that the puzzles we've already solved don't reset when we get sent back, but it's still a huge pain! Not to mention the turrets and guns that respawn over time!

And to think I was excited by all this when we started!

Without anything else we could do, we started taking on the maze again. And after what seemed like an eternity of lasers, bombs, enemies, and warps...

"Oh holy light! Finally!"

We stepped into the clearing that followed, finally rid of the insanity maze.

And there in front of us, was a completely unrepentant Yut.

Before I could give him a piece of my mind, though, the next wave appeared.

"Here we go again! This is much more like it, don't you think, boltie?"

"Yeah. And what's with the _boltie_? What happened to bolthead and blondie?"

"Figured I'd mix it up a little."

Red swatted away a pouncing Savage Wolf, and stabbed another with her other saber. She leapt away as Boomas attacked her with Diga techs.

Lumia stood at the back, battering away any monsters that sneaked up on us with Damgrants, Megid, and her own Diga.

Beams of light, balls of darkness, and boulders rained down on a charging Bil de Vear.

"So, what's the deal with the gun? Wasn't that Kara's?"

"He gave it to me for my birthday. Can you believe it? Who gives a girl a gun for her birthday?"

I blasted a Go Booma that was charging a tech at me, and dodged from another pouncing wolf.

I returned fire with my saber, making use of my footwork to sidestep the wolves' attacks and hitting back, like Kara taught me.

"You seem to like it, though."

"Well, it's not bad. It's actually pretty useful!"

It was the truth. What it lacks in power, it makes up for in reliability. It hasn't failed me so far.

A Grants hit and blinded a Bil de Vear that was leaping at a parrying Yut, allowing him to finish it off with a well places thrust.

I can't help but think that Yut really is getting stronger. His mentality about it may not be the healthiest, but his motivation certainly isn't lacking.

"Soo... how're things with you two?"

"Huh? Well, okay, I think? He's still pretty mean, but he's toned down on the name-calling so... pretty good, I guess!"

I unleashed a barrage of shots on an approaching Booma, stunning it long enough for Lumia to finish it with a Megid.

"He treats me sometimes, and oh, he lets me stay in his room more often. I guess he stopped resisting cuz it hasn't stopped me before anyway!"

"You stay in his room?"

"Yeah! Chelsea's not a bad roommate, but she's too busy all the time. One time, she was training to be a tea coodrinator, even!"

"I see, I see. Well, I learned much more than I was hoping for..."

Red had a light tinge on her cheeks as she spoke, looking thoroughly caught off-guard. That's never happened before. Weird.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I thought you two were just partners... To think that you've already been sleeping together. I feel like I've lost a battle of some sorts today."

And then suddenly, _suddenly_ , my thoughts rushed back to me. And it all came crashing down.

What the heck was I saying?! Of course she'll arrive at that conclusion!

"Y-y-you've got it all _wrong_! We haven't been s-sleeping together! I just stay in his room to eat snacks and take naps!"

"While playing romantic music?"

"No! My stars, no! Ugh, why would you even _think_ that!?"

I tried beating back the blood rushing to my face and regain my composure. The enemies may have already been almost wiped out, but getting flustered in the middle of a battle isn't something you should do!

This is awful. I really need to think over my words before saying them. What even came over me?

"So, you two aren't... y'know, _dating_?"

" _Sigh_. We aren't, okay? We're close, but not like _that_. He's almost like an older brother, actually."

"Ah. So, he's fair game then?"

"Yea- wait, WHAT?!"

I must have been going crazy. Did Red really imply what I think she's implying? No, it's gotta be a joke! Yeah, knowing her, she's probably just messing with me!

See, her face confirms it anyway...

Oh no! She's _blushing_!

"Y-you! W-w-wha... Are you serious?!"

"Well... Pfft! Ahahaha, of course not!"

I knew it! This little _brat_!

"You should have seen the look on your face! You looked like like an angry tomato!"

"I did not! You insufferable little-!"

"Oh man, that was priceless. So you're not a couple, but you _totally_ like him, don't you?"

"I don't! How many times do I have to tell you!?"

"Whatever you say, tomato girl."

"Don't call me that!"

The enemies were all defeated, so I took the chance to catch my breath and calm my rushing heart.

I can't believe I completely fell for her tricks... How do you even fake-blush, anyway?

And why can't she get the idea that I like Kara out of her head? Sure, our interactions are weird for just partners, but...

I need to be mindful of how I act. Maybe I'm being too familiar...

'VR 'Forest' Simulation Complete!'

Ah, now that I've collected my thoughts, it looked like the way forward led to a completely different place. I think we needed to complete two simulations.

I looked back at my partymates. Red was still grinning, the brat. Lumia looked stoic, as always, and Yut... _still_ looked dissatisfied, but at least he's taking a moment to catch his breath.

'Final Score: 1000 points! Rank: S!'

Heh. Now _that's_ what I'm talking about!


	20. V3 Ch5: Emilia The Dragon Slayer

**Don't you just love Christmas Break?**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 3

In A Virtual Reality Without My VisiPhone!

 **Chapter 5**

 **Emilia The Dragon Slayer**

 **ooo000ooo**

 **I**

 **ooo000ooo**

As soon as we stepped across the next area, everything was washed over with blue light, and when it receeded, we found ourselves in a completely different place.

Instead of a lush forest, we were now in what was supposed to be a volcanic cave of sorts. The walls were rocky, and there was even _lava_ in some places.

I'd expect it to be sweltering hot, but that wasn't the case at all. In fact, the temperature was the same as the forest earlier. I'll just chalk it up to some more VR weirdness, I guess.

Yut looked around, looking a little startled by the sudden change. But one moment later, he was back to being disappointed.

"We're somewhere different, but it feels like nothing changed. Everything seems distant... weak."

Oh, here we go again...

"I don't know about that, Yut. I think we're in for something big here. So would you knock of the running already?!"

He took a few seconds to look affronted at me, before shaking his head vigorously.

Geez, what's so hard to understand about what I'm trying to say?

"But taking risks is the only way to get any real training in this place! I can practically feel my senses dulling! I have to make myself stronger!"

Quite dramatic, wouldn't you say?

Surprisingly, Lumia spoke up next.

"I agree. Our time in this useless simulation would be better spent on the investigation."

Oh, for crying out loud! What is _wrong_ with you people? Why are you all so... so...

So troublesome!

"It's bad enough I have to deal with Yut freaking out! Don't you start with me!"

"I thought you hated the Guardians? Why should you care what happens to me?"

Here we go again! It's 'if he dies, be dies' all over again! I just don't get it! How can someone take this kind of act this far?!

I've had it!

I stomped my way over to her and got up in her face. She recoiled back in surprise.

"This is between you and me! Not the Guardians!"

"What?"

"Okay, the Guardians aren't on top of my friends list, but you know what, Lumia? I can't bring myself to hate you! Believe me, I tried!"

I really, really did. I hate the Guardians with every fiber of my being! That's why when I learned that we had to team up with one back in Neudaiz, I wanted to throw up!

But whatever it is I hated in the Guardians, I didn't find it in Lumia. I'd seen how she was willing to face a giant dragon alone to save people. Even when we were telling her how bad of an idea it was. That alone should convince anyone that she wasn't a bad person!

"I... can't hate you! Not after seeing how dedicated you are! And I have to admit, you even manage to look pretty badass while you're at it! I even thought I'd _like_ to be as tough as you someday! But look how you're acting!"

I don't even know what I was saying! It was just so frustrating! I knew she was a serious person from the start but the way she's acting now is on a completely different level! It's like she doesn't even care about anything else besides her mission, whatever it is!

I took a short breath to calm myself down a little. Even though I still remained irritated, maybe I blabbered on too much there. I guess Yut's stressing me out more than I thought.

"I should probably stop running my mouth..."

"I'll say."

Red chimed in, acting like she's part of the conversation. You know what, I don't care. I'm too worn out to.

"But Emilia's right. You really need to shape up, lady."

Huh? What was that? Did she _agree_ with me? And she actually called me my name for once? Huh.

"Loosen up a bit, y'know? I get that this wasn't what you were sent to do, but hey."

"... you're right. I'm sorry. I always try to everything by myself. I'm not comfortable when I'm not the one in control."

Well, that's just unhealthy, isn't it? I know that she has her duty or whatever but... that shouldn't mean that that's _all_ she is.

Lumia then surprised both of us when she suddenly smiled, bringing me out of my thoughts. What? What's she smiling for?

"Heh. This may be the first time anyone's ever really talked to me. Not me, the Guardian. Or me, Ethan's sister. Just _me_ , for who I am. Lumia. Thank you... Emilia."

"Hey, so what am I? chopped liver?"

Huh? That actually worked? I was just venting off my stress...

Well, it's good that she understands, I think! Yeah! If I act like this was the plan, then it should all be fine!

"S-sure, I guess. As long as you get the message!"

"Hmmm..."

Darn, I stuttered. Red seemed to pick up on it, but as long as she doesn't say anything, then I won't as well.

But I guess it all worked out! Maybe we'll be able to finish this simulation without a hitch and have fun while we're at it, after all!

Y'know, like I originally thought!

"I don't think I get anything. All I know is that the only way to get stronger is to keep moving forward!"

"Wha- _Yut_!"

Oh, mother of-! That was such a great moment! Why'd you hafta ruin it by running away again?!

"He's too eager. Nothing you say will get through to him."

"How awfully familiar. Whatever. But you're settled down now... right?"

I'd be seriously upset if she still goes on like we're wasting our time here!

But thankfully, it seems like we won't have that problem. Lumia didn't have that anywhere-else-but-here look in her eyes anymore.

"Yes, thanks to you. I realize I may not be as perfect as I'd like to think I am."

What an unsettling way of thinking. Is this what it's like to have a relative that's famous all over?

But seriously, I just wanted her to calm down a bit. What caused the sudden self-reflecting?

"What's with the soul-searching? Who'd have thought a VR simulation could be so life changing?"

"Aaand ladies and gentlemen, she's back."

"You shut it."

I don't know what Red's harping on about now, but I don't want to hear it!

"I never dreamed I'd find myself being lectured by you. In this or any reality. But I suppose whoever likened this a dream may actually have been onto something after all."

What's this now about dreams and reality? This girl really likes to run her mouth, doesn't she? How theatric can you be? I'm sure Kara'd be having a field day if he was here.

"Next lesson: When to shut up!"

"Someone who doesn't know when to shut up is the perfect match for you. Or perhaps your tastes are different?"

"Ah, so you've noticed too."

"Of course."

What? What's these two smiling for? I don't think I'll like the answer. I narrowed my eyes at them.

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Never you mind. Let's go find Yut!"

And off they go. Seriously, I don't get it. What's with that suspicious behavior?

As we chased after Yut, another window titled Score Card appeared in my point of view.

'Score Card'

Evil Shark Group: 10 points

Poison Lily Group: 15 points

Pal Shark Group: 20 points

Grass Assassin: 30 points

Nano Dragon: 40 points

Sand Rappy Group: 100 points

???: 200 points

It's a little lower, but it looks like the Sand Rappies are still worth some major points. There's also the Evil Sharks Kara and I encountered back in the relic site. Heh, memories. I think I also remember the Poison Lily from Moatoob.

Seems like the lineup is tougher this time around. The Pal Sharks might be a tougher version of the Evil Shark. And I don't think I've seen a Grass Assassin before...

And a Nano Dragon either, for the record. I don't know what it is but it sounds terrifying.

And there's that 200 point jackpot. That has to be the boss, right? That's double the points of the Bonus Sand Rappies!

'Load Complete. Launching Simulation...'

"I'm ready for whatever comes! Bring it on!"

"Speak for yourself, you crazy lunatic!"

What's that battle obsessed moron screaming for _now_? He's nowhere in sight but we still heard him! Talk about an indoor voice.

'Complete the VR 'Cave' Simulation!'

Don't worry, we intend to!

 **ooo000ooo**

 **II**

 **ooo000ooo**

'Bonus Round initializing'

Right off the bat? Well, it doesn't matter. If they're gonna hand us points just like that then we'll take it!

As soon as the first wave appeared, which was composed of our old friends Evil Sharks, Yut was already on them. But since this was a bonus round, waves came up simultaneously.

Another wave of Sharks arrived, and Red flew off. The third wave, however, was different. Plant-like monsters sprouted on the middle of the area, looking like sentient flowers. Poison Lillies, I think they were called.

They were supposed to be native to Moatoob's Crodog region, which me and Kara went to before. But I never managed to fight one back then. Tonnio and Liina insisted on quickly dispatching them. Guess I'll know why.

" **[Foie]**!"

Lumia sent a ball of fire at the Lillies, which made sense if it's nature-based. But also because it's apparently an ice-type monster, which I don't really know the reason to. They don't particularly seem ice-y.

Never mind the fact that she totally stole one of my favorite techs.

The fireball collided and burned one of them, and the others retaliated by spitting clouds of poison gas at us. Return fire, then! I took aim and unloaded a few rounds at them, sending in a charged shot here and there.

Due to their stationary, well, nature, it was relatively easy to fight these things. Makes me wonder just why Tonnio and Liina treated these with urgency. A few moments later, I found out why.

I managed to get close after a while, and slashed at the weakened Lily, seemingly killing it. Instead of dematerializing, though, it straightened up and vibrated harshly.

"Emilia! Get out of there!"

"Huh? G-got it!"

I didn't bother questioning Lumia's sudden order, and seconds later, I was infinitely grateful for it. The Lily exploded into a thick cloud of noxious poison gas. Just looking at it made me sick.

"Whew. Thanks, Lumia!"

Before long, we managed to clear the waves. The enemies were a bit stronger than before but still not enough to cause us major trouble.

One of the metal gates opened up with a mechanical whirr, revealing a steel bridge suspended over lava.

"Um. I know this is a simulation but... how is that not melting?"

"Convection Schmonvection. Keep up, tomato person!"

"Con- _wha_? And I said don't call me that!"

"Then don't be a tomato person!"

"That makes no sense! And if anything, you're the tomato, you redhead!"

It was still a little unnerving crossing a bridge over lava without feeling even the tiniest bit of heat but... VR, I guess.

And I guess Yut didn't bother questioning it at all, since he just went straight through the moment the gate opened.

In the next area, it was Sand Rappy time. It's really sad that these things were much more troublesome than the regular enemies.

Perhaps the developers were onto something by giving them huge points?

Nonetheless, we cleared this area as well, leaving us with a points total in the 300's range.

Thud.

The next area, though, was more of a death trap. Seriously, who designed this simulation? Probably someone sick in the head!

The color coded laser fences were back, but this time, there were crushers in the walls. Some of them were spiked, while some of them were the vanilla pancake flavor. And this was in a narrow hallway!

Thud.

"... who wants to go first?"

Look, even the unflappable _Red_ is unnerved! This is seriously messed up!

I don't see Yut anywhere, though. Has he already made it through? Even with the knowledge that we can't get hurt, I still have reservations with this place! That kid has a spine of steel!

"Well, I'll go then."

"Yeah! Go, Lumia! We're right behind you!"

"Best of luck!"

"You two... Sigh."

I let out a small chuckle. Red and I were just being silly. I thought you'd stop being so serious all the time?

Although was that what she said? I'm not sure. Do I care? Course not!

Lumia stepped on one of the switches and deactivated the first obstacle. She then stood in front of the the wall-type spiked crushers, which were slamming into each other on set intervals.

Thud.

"Um."

"What's wrong? I thought you'd go first?"

I can't believe it! She's having second thoughts! That just confirms it! Whoever made this is a psycho!

It took a few moments, but Lumia finally managed to find the courage to jump through, clearing the crushers. She looked back at us triumphantly. Don't act like you weren't afraid of getting iron maidened!

Red went next, passing through the trap in record speed. Heh! It's a rare thing to see her shaken.

It's totally my turn now, though.

"Alright, okey-dokey. Okaaay. Here we go. I'm the boss!"

"Just get on with it!"

"Shut up, I'm concentrating!"

Doesn't she get it? This maneuver requires finesse! Grace! Not just blitzing through and being done with it!

Lumia just waited patiently but Red was obviously sighing. Excuse me, then!

"Here we go! On three! Onetwothreegyaaaaaa!"

And there! I made it through!

"... real sophisticated. Get up, we've got a jungle boy to catch!"

Never mind the fact that I was on the floor, I made it!

We continued our way through the death trap, disabling more lasers and jumping through a few more squashers when a wave activated. But it was just one monster.

It was a giant mantis-like insectoid. The Grass Assassin. It was easily twice our height, and it had scythes for hands. Do insects even _have_ hands?

Anyway, I was wondering why it wasn't listed as a group on the score card, yet it yielded 30 points. Well, suffice to say, I wasn't wondering anymore.

Lumia started off by buffing us with Deband, which I thought was pretty sensible! If I had to choose, I'd rather get hit by a Bil de Vear!

Red leapt at it and attacked with her twin sabers, engaging the giant insect in a swordfight. She's really good with that thing, isn't she?

" **[Diga]**!"

Lumia's earth-type tech smashed into the the creature's... face? Do insects _have_ faces? I _think_ they do!

I followed up with a charged shot, further disorienting it. Red capitalized by hacking off one of its scythe-arms.

It roared in outrage, scuttling over to slice at us with its remaining scythe.

I rolled out of the way and slashed at its side, making it recoil towards Red's direction. She wasted no time and performed a cross slash on its head.

'Grass Assassin defeated! 30 points awarded!'

Our points raised by said amount, and then it went up again after a few seconds. Yut must have defeated one on his own, wherever he is.

Sigh. This was really not in the spirit of things.

We went on, passing by a metal gate that we had no idea how to open. We left it for now and went through a different path. This time we encountered a crusher of the pancake-variant. It was mounted on the ceiling, and it probably gives complementary butter and syrup too.

 _Thud_.

On its landing pad, though, was a shining red rectangle thingie.

"Hey, what's that?"

"What's _what_?"

"There under the thing. A key card?"

Lumia came over and inspected the thing, and nodded after a couple of seconds.

"It would seem so."

"Ah. So, who's getting it?"

Before we could decide, though, something approached from behind. Lumia and Red instantly raised their guard.

"Huh? Yut?"

"There it is! I was looking for it!"

Without giving us a chance to react properly, Yut passed us and grabbed the key card without a second thought. The crusher fell down and slammed into the pad just a few miliseconds after Yut left it.

 _Thud_.

He looked completely unfazed.

"Hey! You reckless idiot, come back here! _Hey_! Oooohhhh!"

I resisted the urge to stomp my foot. But I really was getting very irritated! When I catch up to him, that kid's so gonna get it!

"Boy, that dude's really something, huh?"

"Don't encourage him!"

"Eh. All I'm saying is, he's either absolutely fearless, or he's sick in the head."

It's probably just his sixth sense or something not registering these as lethal traps. Yeah, that's gotta be it.

Else, how does he not flinch when that thing just passed by his back? It probably even grazed his poncho thingie!

"He's troubled. He lost to the person he was chasing after, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Has he exhibited such behavior in the past?"

"Yeah, back in Neudaiz. He said his brother told him that to get stronger, he has to touch death or something. Got on Kara's case about it too."

"I see. That would do it."

"Hold on, this is the first time I'm hearing about this. Does this have anything to do with coffee boy apparently dying before?"

Huh? How'd Red know about that? Kara must have told her some time before. Maybe back in the cafe?

Well, if she knows about that, then also probably knows about Mika. Sigh. Look at my partner revealing information without me. I know I agreed to tell Red, but he went and did it on his own! We'll have a few words after this!

"Coffee boy... You mean your party leader, Kara, was it? What's this about dying?"

Uh-oh. Lumia wasn't supposed to know about that. I glared at Red for the slip-up, but she just threw her arms up in surrender.

Oh well.

"He almost died saving me before. I guess Yut took it as touching death or something."

Red raised an eyebrow at my true yet false explanation. Ah, can it. That's about all I can tell her without revealing Mika's existence.

It's not that I don't trust Lumia. It's the Guardians I'm worried about. I don't want them learning about Mika.

Thankfully, Lumia seemed to accept what I said.

But I wonder, how long can we keep the Ancients business just to ourselves? If things progress further than they are, we might have to tell her too.

I shook my head. Now's not the time to be thinking about that. We had a runaway Yut to chase.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **III**

 **ooo000ooo**

"What? You want to know about my brother?"

Lumia recoiled in response to my idle chatter, looking honestly surprised.

What? I was curious because she mentioned him earlier. And besides, I know he's a hero or something, but I have no idea _why_ people call him that.

"Who wouldn't? I mean, we all know he's the biggest hero in the world... or something. I just don't know what it is he _did_."

Red snickered, but didn't say anything. That's right, stay quiet. Everything goes more smoothly if you do!

That said, all I know is that he somehow saved the universe. Or system.

Lumia looked exasperated for a second, sighing deeply. Well, excuse me, princess!

"I don't believe it. After all you've said about my 'brother the hero', you don't know what he did?!"

What's she getting angry for?! Are you really that much of a bro-con?!

Hold on, calm down. I was the one who asked, after all.

"Hey, I got my reasons for tuning out the Guardians, okay?"

"Hmph. Alright, I'll tell you. Though, I warn you, he hasn't really done anything I'd call heroic."

Huh? What's with that response?

Do you worship him or do you hate him? Make up your mind!

Lumia must have seen the confusion on my face. She sighed again and started to elaborate.

"He was trying to save someone important to him... and wound up saving Gurhal. That's all. He never set out to save the system or anything grand like that."

And now she's acting like a proud sister. I don't get it. One moment earlier, she was downplaying his achievement. Or maybe I just read that wrong?

But that makes sense, I suppose.

Look at us. We were on a mission to save Gurhal. Well, at least, I think we are. But I wouldn't exactly call any of us heroic.

Hmmm... except Kara, maybe. I'm sure he'd disagree but he did save my life once. Tee-hee.

"Which is why he doesn't really like being called a hero himself. He doesn't think he's done anything to deserve it."

"You mean he just 'happened' to save Gurhal, is that it? How does someone do that, exactly?"

Actually, I take that back. Look how far Kara's gotten just from trying to save me! Injured!

But wait, he got injured saving Red. Heh. He really _is_ heroic, isn't he? Or maybe Red coined it better. A self-sacrificing idiot.

"Perhaps they'll call us heroes for what were doing someday. Emilia the hero, how does that sound?"

"Really silly."

"... I agree, but hearing you say that still pisses me off."

Red really loves interrupting conversations, doesn't she?

Emilia the hero, huh? Hmmm. I wonder. If we somehow succeed stopping the Ancients, will people call me that?

That might be nice, but it really doesn't suit me at all.

With that topic done with, we continued on the lava-filled caverns, taking out some monsters along the way and passing more traps.

Once we entered the next area...

"Watch out!"

A laser beam was already being fired at us! We leapt out of the way quickly.

"That was cheap! What was that?"

On closer inspection, it wasn't a laser that was fired at us. There in the room was a reptilian floating in the center of the room.

It was the Nano Dragon. Although it looked like more like a wyvern to me, but who am I to judge?

The dragon sent fireballs towards us, and we scrambled away to avoid it. I countered with the gun, but it flapped out of the way easily.

" **[Megid]**!"

Lumia fired the ball of darkness at it, but that was also dodged. Red tried a leaping slash but alas, she missed.

"Stay still, will ya?!"

Lumia tried Diga next, but they were obliterated when the dragon fired its laser breath again.

Now what to do? It obviously doesn't plan of coming down here and fighting us in melee!

" **[Rising Crush]**!"

Red flew. She stabbed with both sabers and kicked off the Nano Dragon, causing it to lose altitude.

I fired a few shots and then a charged shot while it was distracted, nailing it and making it crash down on the ground.

" **[Grants]**!"

And Lumia finished it off with a strike of light, awarding us 40 points.

'Bonus Round initializing'

Bonus Round again? They're really being generous with their points now!

This time, Pal Sharks, which were purple fire-type variants of the Evil Sharks, appeared as the first wave.

There were also the regular Evil Sharks mixed up in there. A pair of Grass Assassins emerged from the corner, and another Nano Dragon completed the set.

"Well, they're certainly not pulling any punches, _that's_ for sure."

Suddenly, something collided with the Nano Dragon, bringing it down onto the ground harshly. A cloud of dusty smoke formed from the impact.

That spurned on the rest of the monsters.

"Woah! Yut, I'm telling you! When I get my hands on you, _I'll_ -!"

I didn't get to finish. A Pal Shark leapt towards me and attempted to slash at me with its blade arms. I hopped back and slashed in retaliation.

And then I had to get away again as another Pal Shark attempted a sneak attack.

Red, Lumia, and Yut were all busy with their respective opponents. The Nano Dragon managed to recover, shooting fireballs and lasers from the air. The Grass Assassins were the major threats, keeping Red's hands full.

Geez, isn't this too much? I know I complained that it was too easy, but this was an insane difficulty spike!

Well, this leaves me no choice! Time for something I was itching to try out!

"Hey, boltie! What're you grinning like that for over there?"

"Shut up, I'm gonna try something!"

Ignoring the noisy midget, I stretched my arms out and focused my energy. Let's see if our enemies can still push us around after this!

... It sure is taking a long time, though!

"A mirage blast? Judging by the color of your aura, though... Wait! Emilia!"

What was that? Lumia seemed like she was saying something but I couldn't hear her very well. I was too busy being awesome!

Yellow glyphs appeared in front of my outstretched hands, spinning to set themselves in place before activating.

In a yellow flash, the yellow and orange bird-shaped spirit of lightning appeared. What was the name again? Err, Canna, yeah!

"Let's go, Canna! **[Thunder Flash]**!"

Canna blitzed around the area, dropping numerous lightning bolts at the enemies. One of the bolts hit a group of Pal Sharks, instantly turning them into points.

Alright! It was _so_ worth buying this module!

Another bolt hit the Nano Dragon, shocking it and sending it down. Yut finished it off with a swift thrust. Next, the Evil Sharks and the Grass Assassins were electrocuted. But... it looked like they weren't being damaged much... nah. A few more bolts should do it!

After a few seconds, the bolts lessened in frequency and then ultimately stopped. Everything besides the Pal Sharks and the Nano Dragon were still spectacularly standing.

"... wait, that's _it_?"

What a scam! It didn't even do that much! If I wanted a Pal Shark killer then I would have just casted techs!

I don't understand! Lumia's and Yut's Mirage Blasts were able to beat dragons and Seeds! What was wrong with mine?!

" **[Radiga]**!"

Lumia finished off the remaining Evil Sharks with an explosion of rocks, while the Grass Assassins were taken care of by Red with a flurry of blindingly fast saber slashes.

Our points ballooned up to 600, but I didn't feel like celebrating at all!

Red came over, a sickeningly smug grin plastered on her face.

"Using an electric-type Mirage Blast against electric-type monsters... You really are a bolthead, aren't you?"

"... noooo!"

I can't believe I forgot! I was so excited about my newly bought blast module that it slipped my mind!

Sigh. At least it took out the Pal Sharks and stunned the Nano Dragon long enough for Yut to finish it off but...

How depressing!

"I'm sure you'll learn from the mistake. Right now, we have other things to focus on. Like your teammate."

"He slipped away again. Darn it."

We crossed another physics-defying bridge and arrived at an area similar to the earlier Sand Rappy room.

True enough, said little creatures came after us one after the other. They still didn't pose much of a threat so long as we were careful. After just two waves, though, the system declared the Bonus Round completed.

"Huh? What gives? We're only at 800 points."

Red had a point. There were no more enemies as we progressed, looking like the simulation might be close to over. But we were two hundred short. Is it time for the mystery 200 point enemy?

"There's still that unknown enemy that's worth 200 points."

"Yeah! We just need to find the boss! I have a feeling it's gonna be a big one!"

"A boss... like a game?"

As if to answer our questions, a loud roar echoed throughout the cave.

"It's about time we found something that can put up a fight!"

"Yut! Graahh!"

Yut sped off, ignoring my protests. I'm getting really sick of chasing that idiot!

 **ooo000ooo**

 **IV**

 **ooo000ooo**

After a while of running, we were able to reach what can only be the boss-room. Yut was off on the middle standing on his own, clear puzzlement on his face.

Strange. This was surely the final area. Where was the boss? In any case...

"Yut! Get back here!"

The crazy jungle boy's pointed ears perked up as I called out. He looked at us and pondered for a few seconds, before trudging back with a disappointed expression.

Good! Now maybe we took a wrong turn somewhere...

"...! The ground's shaking!"

Lumia suddenly said. She's right! And it was getting stronger!

The ground shook harshly for a couple more seconds before it abruptly stopped. A few seconds of silence followed, and then something big exploded from the room's centre.

" _Gyaaaoooo_!"

"A dragon! And it's huge!"

What emerged actually was a dragon which was larger than the Nano Dragons we encountered earlier. Its wings and arms were conjoined, though, so it still edged closer to a wyvern. It had a horn and its tail split into two.

Weird thing, though. The system was saying that its name was simply Dragon. How uninspired. It was also apparently fire-type like the Nano ones.

Well, there's our boss fight... But what about Yut?

"Aha! Finally! A strong opponent!"

That idiot!

Yut jumped and thrust with his spear. It wasn't very effective, but the dragon clearly noticed, brushing off Yut's strike and slapping him away with its tail.

Well, he got his wish, I guess. There's still no actual danger but here's a powerful enemy.

" **[Shifta]**!"

" **[Deband]**!"

Red and Lumia cast their respective buffing techs, boosting our attack and defense substantially. Huh, so Red can use techs too. Was that a Tech-Mag she was using?

The dragon issued a challenging roar, and charged straight towards us. Guess it's not planning on a hit-and-run strategy like its Nano minions!

"Uh-oh! Spread out!"

"Don't need to tell me that!"

We swiftly got out of the way and began our assault. Lumia started off with a super-effective Barta, causing the dragon to recoil from the icy attack.

It looked effective, but I really wish she'd stop stealing more of my techs!

Red came next, slashing at the dragon's face and instantly dodging the jaw snap that followed. She landed on the ground and leapt away from a stomp attack.

Since I'm using a relatively low power weapon choice, I'm sticking to keeping my distance and waiting for an opening. Red and Lumia's got firepower covered, anyway!

The dragon made to chase Red, but was slightly blown over when something collided onto its side. It moved to retaliate but a well placed Diga from Lumia halted that motion.

Alright, how about this?

I fired repeatedly at the confused dragon, making it even more undecided on where to attack. Yut then thrust his spear heavily into the same side he attacked, tipping it over.

It got angry, though. It let loose a massive fireball at the approaching Red, buying it time to try and stand.

"Can't have you forgetting about me! Hiya!"

I slashed at its knees and slid away. Haha! Kneel, lesser being!

" **[Damgrants]**!"

The beam of light hit the dragon's face, blinding it long enough for Red to cross-slash its chest, pushing it back a little only for Yut to slam it again.

This seemed to finally get it mad, roaring loudly before focusing all its attention on the persistent tribesboy.

Huh. Who knew simulations could get mad.

Yut tried avoiding the stomps and bites, mostly succeeding through skillful dodging and parrying, but a sudden tail whip hit home. It followed up with a fireball to the thrown Yut, which was thankfully intercepted by a Barta from Lumia.

It didn't mind, turning its attention towards Red. It charged, and while she was able to dodge, the dragon followed up with the stomp, snap, slam approach it used on Yut.

"Heads up!"

I fired a charged shot at it, bit it didn't do much. It ignored my shots and continued its onslaught.

Red dodged the attacks, countering with saber slashes as she did, much to the dragon's irritation. She swiped at one of its legs and went for the face, making the dragon roar out in pain.

It still persevered, though, nailing Red with a surprise claw attack.

" **[Nosmegid]**!"

Lumia tried hitting it with a dark tech, but the dragon suddenly flew up, and then went straight down, disappearing in a cloud of smoke. The Nosmegid hit the wall uselessy and scattered a bit of dust.

Wait... it left a mark...

"It burrowed! Everyone, stay alert!"

"Geez, this is one troublesome monster..."

"Come out, coward! Fight me with honor!"

"It's not gonna listen to you!"

There was a large gaping hole where it dug, which was slowly filled with magma.

The ground started shaking again, and Red leapt out of the way as the ground beneath her exploded in a fiery blast.

The fireball continued up into the cave's ceiling, blasting away numerous rocks and boulders. So the walls _are_ damageable...

"It feinted with a fireball?!"

"Huh?!"

"What the- Yut, get out of there!"

I shouted out a warning, but Yut blatantly ignored it and raised his spear to point it at the ground.

And what's _that_ gonna do?!

The dragon reemerged from beneath Yut faster than he can strike with his spear, sending him flying into the air and awaiting its gaping maw.

" **[Diga]**!"

Nice! Lumia managed to strike the head with the tech, allowing Yut to control his fall and use the momentum to deliver a powerful spear attack.

The dragon recovered, landed, and immediately burrowed again.

"Yut, you need to calm down! We need a plan to take this thing down with less risks!"

" _Less_ risks?! Then what's the point?! We need to fight, that's all!"

"I'm telling you! Just _listen_!"

"No! I'm going to defeat this enemy and become stronger!"

This... This...! Aggghhh, _enough_!

"Red!"

"What is it? Kinda focusing here!"

"Call me chicken or whatever! I don't care! I've had enough of this!"

I switched to my staff and immediately started chanting with my teeth clenched. I was so frustrated that it was almost starting to grind!

This time, the ground beneath Lumia glowed red, signifying another fireball feint. Not this time!

"Lumia, move! **[Rabarta]**!"

I concentrated the tech into a small point and poured larger amount of power into it. The heating ground froze over, halting the explosion.

The dragon emerged after, and I immediately slammed it with another Rabarta, blasting it away from its intended attack course.

It burrowed again, but it didn't bother with the feint. It resurfaced behind us this time, obviously wary about the Rabarta.

" **[Razonde]**!"

The bolt of lightning struck it head-on, bringing it down onto the ground and keeping it there, the tech's stun capabilities immobilizing it.

"Woah, bolthead. You were holding out on us?"

Red remarked and went for the stunned dragon, scoring a good number of hits. Yut joined in, spearing it repeatedly. The dragon cried out in outrage and pain. Mostly pain, I would hope.

" **[Grants]**!"

Lumia kept it in place with her tech, but it was slowly starting to stand up again. Not on my watch!

"Red, drag Yut out of there! **[Rafoie]**!"

"Rafoie? But that's a fire-type!"

"Let's go, jungle boy!"

"H-hey, stop!"

I paid no mind to Lumia's protest. I fired the tech at a particular spot in the cave ceiling, just right above the dragon.

Boom! Just as I expected, the boulders came crashing down onto the struggling creature.

"... I see."

" **[Rabarta]**! **[Razonde]**!"

The icy explosion froze the entire groups of boulders trapping the dragon, and then the lightning bolt struck the dragon, producing a violent blast of frozen rocks and electricity.

After a few seconds of waiting, the smoke cleared to reveal an unmoving dragon, sparks still dancing across its form. The ground around it was both scorched and wet from the melted ice.

'Dragon defeated! 200 points awarded!'

 **ooo000ooo**

 **V**

 **ooo000ooo**

'VR 'Cave' Simulation Complete!'

'Final Score: 1000 points! Rank: S!'

The system let out another celebratory jingle. Would you look at that? Back-to-back perfect scores! Wait till Kara hears about this!

The dragon's unmoving form disappeared in a flash of light, and a gate in the back of the room opened up, revealing an exit.

I dismissed my trusty rod and inspected our surroundings. Boy, we really did a number on this place, didn't we? There were lots of holes and rocks scattered about.

Red and Lumia dusted themselves off after putting away their weapons, not looking particularly exhausted. They _did_ look a little winded, though. That was a lot of running around.

And as for Yut...

"... is that all? I'm ready for more!"

Give me a break! The dragon was already defeated, but he's still on this issue?!

"Yut, c'mere for a sec, will ya?"

I called him over just a little bit forcefully. Fortunately, he heard me and went on over to our direction.

He still looked discontent so I gave him the sweetest smile I could muster.

"What is it? We finally found something challenging but it's still not enough!"

"The simulation's over, so that'll have to do for now. But there's one... more... _thing_!"

Whack!

I gave him a good smack on the noggin'. He wasn't expecting it at all. He recoiled back and clasped his head with his hands.

"Ow! What's the big idea?!"

"You can't go running off on your own like that! And definitely not taking on dangerous enemies without us! And if I tell you to listen, you _listen_! Got that?!"

Yut looked at me dubiously, as if he doesn't understand what he did wrong. No, he _definitely_ doesn't understand what he did wrong. He looked ready to protest but didn't say anything back.

Probably in fear of another smack. That oughta knock some sense into that thick head of his, but I held back.

"Sigh. Did you ever think about what you put us through? Keep it up and you'll get yourself killed for real!"

"But... but if we don't test our limits, how can we learn? How can we get stronger?"

"If you're dead, what good will it do you?"

I know it's good to regularly test your limits and step out of your comfort zone. Kara drilled that lesson into me from day one. In fact, that's why I was even bothering with the saber and gun in the first place!

But too much and you're just putting yourself in unnecessary danger. You can get stronger as much as you want but if you die doing it, then what's the point?

"I know you want to learn to fight better, but there's a fine line between being brave and being reckless!"

"Y-you don't understand!"

Even now, he's still making a fuss! Ugh, calm down, Emilia. If you get lash out at him now, then he's never gonna keep what you say in mind!

"Bolthead's right, you know? You're never getting that Land-Mother of yours back if you kick the bucket."

Huh? Red? She's agreeing with me again? What's going on?

Although she went back to calling me bolthead. Ugh, whatever.

"You can get stronger without casting yourself into fire every time, you know? A little discipline here and there goes a long way."

"See? I'm not the only one who thinks so. Do you get it now?"

"I... I get it, okay? But I have to become stronger! The man in black was so powerful, even Kara wqs defeated! I won't stand a chance against him if I don't become stronger! I have to keep training!"

There it is. The heart of the issue.

I get it. The man in black was really powerful. Scarily powerful, even. I'd like to think that Kara was a lot stronger than he was when we first met, and he still lost pretty easily. Even Red who, despite everything, was one of the strongest people I know.

Shizuru faced them both at the same time and wiped the floor with them. Kara even got put out of commission for a while. What can Yut and I do?

I have no delusions about what would happen if Yut or I fought Shizuru one-on-one as we are now. But that's the thing. We're a team. We don't have to do it by ourselves.

"But you don't have to face him alone!"

"... huh?"

He looked a bit lost. Really? Did he really think we wouldn't be with him when he fights the fight of his life? Shizuru _terrifies_ me but...

I promised Mika, didn't I?

"He must be defeated, yes. But we can defeat him... together."

"Lumia?"

Even Lumia? Guess what I said to her earlier really worked, huh? Too bad she's with the Guardians. The five of us made a pretty awesome team!

Hmm... I wonder if we can get her to transfer over to us? Nah, she's too committed to her duty or whatever. But she's the only Guardian I would work with!

"Did I say something wrong?"

Oh. I must have been staring. Silly me. I just gave her a smile and waved her off. I returned my attention back to Yut.

"You gotta learn to trust your friends more, Yut! You gotta trust us! Pull any more of this kind of stunt and you can forget getting any more pudding outta me!"

"All right, all right! I'll try to learn to work with the rest of you while training..."

"Not quite but that's more like it!"

He still looked like he hasn't fully understood yet, but I think I can leave the matter here for now. If he acts up again, I'll just have to nag at him again to get my point across!

Okay, maybe Kara had a point when he calls me out for nagging... But this is all for Yut's sake so I'm sure he'd understand!

I let out a small chuckle. I really am blessed with good friends, huh? To think how much things have changed since the relic site...

"Resorting to bribery now, eh? Gotta say I expected more from you."

"It's not bribery!"

"That's right! That's just Emilia's payment for doing things she told me to!"

"That's what bribery means, puddingface."

"Not helping, Yut! Whatever, don't mind the midget. Now how about a trip to the cafe as soon as we get back? I'm sure Kara would love to hear about our performance!"

"I don't think he's exactly the type to want to listen to you gloat. You just want to rub it in his face that he missed out, don't you?"

I don't know what Red's talking about but it's assuredly not true. Kara's a great listener! When he's in the mood...

"Heehee. Things never get this lively when I'm not with you people. I suppose I should be glad for it."

Lumia suddenly went and said something sentimental. She turned to me with a sincere expression.

"Emilia, I want to apologize for the things I said earlier."

"Huh? Oh, that? It's all water under the table! As long as you understand!"

"... wasn't that 'water under the bridge'?"

"Gahaha! Oh man, wait till he coffee boy hears about this!"

"Y-you wouldn't!"

I glared at Red, but I eventually found myself laughing too. I don't get it! I'm the one being made fun off but I'm laughing!

Even _Lumia's_ chuckling a bit! Yut just looked confused, though...

Heh. Even though we were all as incompatible as we can be, we've really gone and made ourselves a team, huh? Nah. We made ourselves one happily dysfunctional crazy family.

Right, partner?

 **ooo000ooo**

 **VI**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Kara here."

"Good. I figured you'd be up and about."

The visage of our actual boss, Ursula, appeared on my comms. I gave her a small nod of greeting.

It's been a few days since Emilia and the others returned from their VR escapade, and it looks like things turned out well. Seems like Lumia and Yut caused quite a bit of a commotion but surprisingly, Emilia managed to get it under control.

Heh. Maybe I'm not giving her enough credit. She's improved by leaps and bounds since we first started. I'm honestly a little proud.

These past few days have been unbelievably dull because of my injury, but hopefully, the party would be a lot easier to handle by the time I'm ready for active duty again.

"Is the boss back yet?"

"Yes. And by the looks of things, something's up. Is Emilia there?"

"Not at the moment. Hold on, I'll go get her."

"That won't be necessary. Kraz called only for you."

Huh? Not necessary? That's a little weird. Also, I can't help but feel something's off. Why just me?

Before I could ask further, Ursula spoke up again.

"Kraz wants to speak to us. It's about Emilia. We'll be waiting at the office."

She cut the line off without waiting for my response. Well, that wasn't ominous at all.

Still, what could have Kraz possibly found that connects Emilia to the investigation?

My mind immediately went to the possibility that Emilia went and caused trouble again, but with the way she's acting nowadays, it's highly unlikely. Probably.

Well, I'm not gonna find out by trying to figure it out myself. I made my way to the office.

And that was where it all went to shit.


	21. Volume 3 Epilogue

Little Wing It

Volume 3

In A Virtual Reality Without My VisiPhone!

 **Epilogue**

 **ooo000ooo**

"I'm still curious, though. How can a simulation recreate something with so much realism?"

I wondered out loud. The VR experience from a few days ago was still fresh in my mind. Now that things have calmed down a bit, I had a lot of things I needed answers to!

As if to join me in my musings, a gentle presence made itself felt to me, along with a soft voice I've come to associate with a certain person.

"A recreation... yes. If you could recreate a relic site in enough detail you might even rediscover the secrets of the Ancients..."

"It can't be _that_ easy... can it?"

"... who're you talking to?"

Red suddenly interjected from beside me. One thing led to another, and I was stuck with her.

Yut was probably somewhere stuffing his face, training, or both. And I haven't seen Kara all day, which is a bit disappointing.

I think Lumia's also still around, but I haven't seen her too. I wonder where she is?

"Umm...has Kara mentioned someone by the name of Mika to you?"

"Mika...? Oh, _yeah_ , I remember. The lady living inside you, right?"

I really wish she hadn't termed it like that. You couldn't at least say that we were sharing a body?

Red must have noticed my reaction to her words, as she snickered for a bit. What a brat.

"I still don't think I fully believe all this but... what can I do? Anyway. Name's Red. Nice to meet ya, Ms. Ancient lady. If you're there, that is."

"She's here, alright. And maybe _don't_ call her that?"

Mika sent a message of greeting in response, with me as the middle person. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be bothered by the Ancient Lady remark.

Or maybe she was and just didn't say anything. I wonder if she's the type to be secretly sensitive about her age?

"Hmm. I guess I hafta take your word for it for now. So, what's it like?"

"What's it like... How do I put this? It's really complicated to explain."

Mika was really respectful, I guess. She never assumes control of my body without my permission first.

But she's always so supportive and gentle. I suppose she's like a mother?

I conveyed my thoughts to Red.

"You're right, it is complicated."

What an inspired response! Truly amazing. Red just shrugged at my unimpressed stare.

I couldn't fault her, though. I get confused from time to time too. Kara took it surprisingly well, but I wonder how Lumia would react?

"Well, anyway, I've got some things to take care of. Catch ya later, bolthead."

"Again with the bolthead... now what?"

Red suddenly took off, leaving me by my lonesome. This _sucks_. Where was everyone else?

Kara wasn't in his room, I checked. And there was really no point in me hanging around there if he wasn't present. The main reason I go there was because it was boring on my own!

Well, maybe the office? Come to to think of it, I haven't seen the boss or Ursula in a while. Oh well! Couldn't hurt to check!

I made the journey to the office, and once I arrived, I immediately noticed the absence of a certain receptionist. Boss wasn't in his seat either. Oh, wait, I think he's out investigating at the moment...

Where'd everybody else go then? The CEO office? They weren't having a meeting without me, were they?

I approached the door of the office. Maybe I could see what they were talking about. Nobody's here to stop me anyway... and if it sounds like it's something not for me then I'll just go away, no biggie!

I pressed my ear to the door and...

"... as bait to lure Shizuru?"

"Too risky. In fact, we should probably change the way we've been doin' things around here."

That was Ursula _and_ Kraz! And they were talking about Shizuru! It really _was_ important! Why would they leave me out of this?

Well, not on my watch! I pressed the button to open the door, and then as it was sliding open...

"We're taking Emilia off active duty. What say you, kid?"

"... yeah. There's no other choice."

... Kara?

And... Lumia's here too? What...

I.. I don't understand...

"Take me off? Wh-what? _Why_?"

Everyone immediately turned around towards my direction. Why are you all surprised? I was going to find out anyway, wasn't I?

"E-Emilia! What are you doing here?!"

What, so I'm not welcome now, is that it?! I... I...

No, I'm not crying here! I'm not giving them the satisfaction!

"No, it's fine! I was just leaving! No one wants me around anyway so just like that, I'm _out_!"

"Wait, Emilia, you're taking this the wrong way!"

That was Kara. He's got some nerve...!

"You shut _up_! After _everything_ we've been through? I thought you were my friend! I thought _all_ of you were my friends! Ha! How _wrong_ I was!"

I ignored all their attempts to call out to me and just ran.

I didn't know where I wanted to go, but I just ran away. Towards the ship. Take me somewhere... _anywhere_.

As soon as I was sure the ship has taken off, only then did I catch up to what was happening.

So they didn't need me anymore, huh? Well, I didn't need them too. I can't believe they even went as far as pretending to be my friends. Pretending to _like_ me.

They didn't even chase after me! So I guess that really is how things are, huh?

All those memories... were they all just lies?

"I guess I really am alone, after all..."


	22. Volume 4 Prologue

**I'm back! Not much to do nowadays, so let's see how much we can accomplish. Stay safe, y'all.**

 **ooo000ooo**

Volume 4 Cover Image:

drive@google@com/file/d/10wFNZAlFmKhakOL-w3rI8LmoxemqM6fI/view?usp=drivesdk

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 4

The Disappearance Of Emilia Percival

 **Prologue**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Dude, you need to calm down."

"What are you talking about? I'm perfectly calm."

I was pacing around my room, going over my mind as to where that troublesome partner of mine may have gone.

She took the ship and completely erased whatever data we might have used to track her down. I would have been impressed if I wasn't so annoyed.

My name is Kara Draken. An 18 year old Beast Vanguard. Occupation: Mercenary.

Until some time ago, that occupation would have been Freelance Mercenary. But as one would guess, that's not the case anymore.

I started working for this mercenary outfit called Little Wing. And I wouldn't exactly it fate.

It was during an honest attempt to get some extra cash that I ran into a certain blonde and her scruffy guardian(?). Then things escalated and I found myself trapped in some unknown relic site with said blonde.

One way or another, we got to the end of the site. And then I died. End of story, right?

Well, no. Somehow, I was revived and we were found by the girl's guardian, who was named Kraz Muehler, and was apparently the boss of this civilian security firm / mercenary outfit that I now found myself working for.

It was either I signed up or I pay them the rescue fee, which was a price that I'd probably never amass over several lifetimes.

Contrary to that rather rough start, life was a Little Winger was much more easier than a freelancer. Jobs were plentiful, the lodging was rather accomodating, and the pay was good. In return, every day was much more eventful.

What do I mean by eventful, one might ask. Well, long story short, I found myself in the middle of an attempt to take over the system by a race that, by all accounts, should be long gone, led by the possessed emo son of the president of the leading company in subspace research.

And because adults are useless, it was up to me and my party to stop it. And said party was rather troublesome.

The pudding-obsessed jungle boy, Yut.

The troublemaking midget, Red.

And the girl I met in the relic site. The part time genius, part time idiot, Emilia.

Who was being targeted by the enemy.

Who ran away.

I take it back, she's finally graduated into full time idiot.

"What are you even doing in my room, anyway?"

"What? Bolthead goes missing and you didn't expect me to check up on you? I'm hurt, I truly am."

The one I was talking to was the troublemaking midget I described earlier. Red, whose real name was Akane Shiroryu.

We met her before she joined Little Wing, and through some machinations which may or may not have been by chance, she was inserted into our party.

She and Emilia weren't the best of friends. In fact, they bicker pretty much every second. But I would guess they must have warmed up to each other at least a little.

That said, I don't know what she's planning to achieve by hanging around in my room. It's possible that she was telling the truth and she really was checking up on me but...

"C'mon. You're gonna dig a path by the rate you're walking around. Do relax a little."

"I told you. I'm as calm as can be."

"Uh-huh."

Before we could continue our little discussion, someone suddenly barged through the door.

" _Emilia_! Where's Emilia? I can't smell her anywhere!"

"Yut, ever heard of knocking?"

"Sorry!"

You don't seem particularly sorry. _Sigh_ , whatever.

This was the pudding loving Kasch boy, Yut Jun Yunkers. Weird name, but I'm not one to judge what tribes name their children.

We met this kid back in Moatoob, just before our first encounter with the man in black. We even had a little scuffle.

We outnumbered him four-to-one, but he still put up quite a bit of a fight. That goes to show how much tenacity this kid has. In the end, we knocked him out but we had to bring him back to Little Wing since his entire village was burned down. Thankfully, the other Kasch managed to get away.

That left him with nowhere to go, though, so for the time being, he was left in our care. And if that wasn't enough, he apparently thought I was a master fighter and insisted I train him.

Turns out, the man in black, Shizuru Shu, stole something important from the Kasch and Yut made it his life's mission to get it back. We recently had a chance to do so but we weren't strong enough yet.

The direct result was my broken arm, among others.

"The idiot's gone. Ran away. I don't suppose you have an idea where she went?"

"Ran away? But she told me I shouldn't run off on my own. Why would she run away?"

"She did? Oh, that's right, she did tell me you and Lumia raised a fuss back there."

"Yeah! She even hit me on the head! It hurt, but she gave me pudding after, so it's okay!"

That hypocrite. Once we find her, we'll pay her back, Yut.

That said, I re-asked my question on possible places Emilia might have gone.

"No idea! But shouldn't we be looking for her instead of doing nothing?"

"Be realistic, jungle boy. We don't even have the first idea where to look. Tell him, Kara."

"... You're right. Let's go."

"You too?!"

I gave Red a confused glance. What's she playing at now? I thought she'd be the type to agree to take action immediately. I know we have absolutely no leads but surely we can accomplish more than if we just stayed here.

"What's with that look? Your arm's still busted! You'll get yourself _killed_ , moron!"

"No, he won't. I'll make sure of it!"

"I don't want another word out of _you_!"

Ah, so that's it. She was actually worried about me? Huh. I guess she warmed up to me too. Maybe Yut's next, and we'll all be a happy functioning team.

Not. If I knew what's best for my hopes and dreams, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Red glared at me for a few seconds, and I glared back before she finally relented with a deep sigh.

"I guess I can't stop you, huh? Fine. But we'll take a stop at the weapons shop, first."

I was confused at first, then I remembered I was still down one arm. That immediately rules out the rifle and the twin sabers. If I wanted to get out there, I'm gonna need more than my one-handed saber.

"Alright. Lead the way."


	23. V4 Ch1: One Armed Bandit

**Wash your hands!**

 **ooo000ooo**

Little Wing It

Volume 4

The Disappearance Of Emilia Percival

 **Chapter 1**

 **One Armed Bandit**

 **ooo000ooo**

 **I**

 **ooo000ooo**

In order to gain a better understanding of this mess, we need to go back a few hours.

After Ursula relayed to me that Kraz requested my appearance, I made my way over to Little Wing's CEO office.

I still didn't have any sign or idea of where Emilia, Yut, or Red might be so I didn't bother making any detours.

"There you are."

Immediately greeting me was Ursula. Kraz was absent, and so was Chelsea, which was a bit of a surprise. There was one other person in the room, though.

"Hello."

"Lumia? What brings you here?"

The Guardian gave me a quick nod, before Ursula started explaining to me what was going on.

"Kraz asked Lumia to join us too. Whatever he wants to talk about, I guess he wants her to hear as well."

"He said it was about Emilia. He didn't give me any other details, though."

What could possibly be about Emilia that concerns Lumia, and by proxy, the Guardians? I get that the two were basically friends now, despite what they might say, but this doesn't sound like something that concerns friendships or whatnot.

And where was Kraz, anyway? He called us here but he's being fashionably late. Just after that thought, though, the office doors slid open.

And in came Kraz, who looked worse off than he normally does.

"Thanks for comin'. Sorry it couldn't wait."

"It's quite alright. I'm more concerned about _why_ we're here."

Lumia stood to attention as she spoke. I nodded in affirmation and Ursula motioned for him to continue.

"I can imagine. So, let's dispense with the pleasantries and cut right to it, shall we?"

Kraz took a deep breath and turned his attention towards me.

"You lot were right. Shizuru Shu _is_ the man in black. He dropped below the radar at the same time people started disappearing. And there are witnesses to back it up."

We already knew that. But Kraz wouldn't urgently call us here to tell us something we already know. He must have seen the look on my face, because he continued his piece without waiting for a response.

"But that's all academic at this point. The real question is, what's he after?"

Immediately coming to mind was the Kasch's Land-Mother, their Codex. A product of the Ancients. Considering that Shizuru is possessed by an Ancient, could that be part of the equation?

"If we combine the eyewitness reports to what we already know, then we have a clear view on his first objective: the knowledge of the Ancients. He's been busy collecting artifacts, like the Codex he stole from the Kasch."

So, I was right. But still, _why_? Why would an Ancient need knowledge that he probably already knows?

I was still trying to connect the dots in my head when Lumia spoke up.

"You said 'first objective'. Are there more?"

Kraz nodded his head in affirmation, confirming my suspicions about Shizuru's motives.

"Well spotted. Some time ago, a group of these people controlled by Shizuru attacked our colony. Now, why would they do that?"

The day Kraz is referring to was back during Emilia's birthday. A group of Shizuru's puppets invaded Little Wing and caused some mayhem.

Thankfully, Yut and I managed to stop some of them and Ursula took care of the rest. Still, it does seem a bit strange.

Aside from causing some damage and panic, all they managed to accomplish was corner Emilia, and even that was short-lived.

Seeing the looks on our faces, Kraz continued on.

"I couldn't figure it out either. We don't have anything related to the Ancients here, so at first I thought they were after Yut since he's one of the Kasch but..."

Kraz was right, we don't have anything that has to do with the Ancients here so...

Wait.

"But the logs of a few unauthorized personnel data requests proved me wrong. And can you guess which particular record they were trying to access?"

Kraz looked me dead in the eye, and said what I was dreading he would say.

"Emilia Percival."

They were after Mika, which also meant they were after Emilia. So it wasn't just a coincidence she ran into those puppets. They were trying to capture her from the start.

I can't believe I never noticed until now! But then if Shizuru really was after her, then why didn't he take the chance when he beat us back in Mt. Elbars?

He clearly recognized Mika's presence, and with me, Yut, and Red down, there was no stopping him from just taking her then and there. Lumia's good but I doubt she could have done anything.

So, then, why? I don't understand this at all! Is there something Mika's not telling us?

"Kid. You two're always together. I figured you would have noticed someone was after her, but it seems not."

I was brought back to attention by Kraz snapping his fingers in front of me. Seeing that I was surprised by the information as well, Kraz let out a weary sigh.

Ursula chimed in next.

"So, what do we do now? Use her as bait to lure out Shizuru?"

"Too risky. In fact, we should probably change the way we've been doin' things around here."

By changing things, Kraz was obviously talking about keeping Emilia off missions for now. Shizuru may not have bothered taking her before in Moatoob, but we can't count on what I assume to be overconfidence in his part to keep Emilia, and Mika, out of his hands.

The problem is, though, if Emilia's not with us, then Mika isn't too. She's our only source of information about what we're really facing. And there's also Emilia's reaction to this that's to worry about.

Since I'm her partner, and therefore, outside of Kraz and Ursula, the one with the most say about what to do with her, Kraz turned to me to get my opinion.

"We're taking her off active duty. What say you, kid?"

"... yeah. There's no other choice."

Even then, it's too much of a risk to keep bringing her out into the open.

I'd have to break it to her slowly. Who knows how that mess of emotions is gonna react? The last thing we need is for her to have been eavesdropping and suddenly barge in...

"Take me off? Wh-what? Why?"

Shit.

The office's doors finished sliding open, and Emilia was there staring at us disbelievingly.

Kraz was the one to react first, which was probably the worst thing that could have happened at that moment.

"E-Emilia! What are you doing here?!"

Emilia recoiled in surprise, looking like she would start crying at any moment. She then hurriedly blinked away her forming tears and angrily glared at Kraz.

"No, it's fine! I was just leaving! No one wants me around anyway, so just like that, I'm out!"

I wanted to snap back at her. I wanted to tell her she was overreacting. To tell her to calm down and let us explain what we meant.

But seeing her look so hurt...

I.. I couldn't bring myself to. But I had to say something...

"Wait, Emilia, you're taking this the wrong way!"

Emilia turned to me instantly before I even finished my sentence, and her expression turned even worse.

"You shut _up_! After _everything_ we've been through! I thought you were my friend! I thought _all_ of you were my friends! Ha! How wrong I _was_!"

She didn't give me a chance to answer, as she just turned around and ran away as fast as she could. I immediately attempted to give chase but the moment I was able to exit the office, she was already out of view.

Until I spotted a flash of pink right at the transporter.

"Emilia, wait!"

I called out as I ran, but Emilia just turned her head around and gave me one last glare before being warped away into our ship.

By the time, I was able to reach the transporter, it was already denying me access to our ship, which meant that it had already taken off.

There was also no log as to where the ship was headed, leaving me with no clue where she might have went.

"Damn it. You idiot!"

At the time, I didn't know if I was referring to Emilia or myself.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **II**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Say, how do you feel about a dagger? Nah, doesn't suit you. Hmm..."

Red mused out as she browsed through the shop's stock.

Having no leads whatsoever on the idiotstick's current whereabouts, we've decided to do a little bit of scouting on our own. We being Yut and I, along with a reluctant Red.

Reluctant, meaning against the idea of setting out with me _still_ having a broken arm. Gotta say, I never pegged her as the fussy type.

In the end, we were able to reach a compromise. We go and buy some equipment that I'd be able to use with one arm, and she'll come along with us. It's a bit of a shock to see her acting like this, especially when compared to her usual behavior.

As for Lumia, she unfortunately had to report back to Guardians HQ, but she wished us good luck and promised to help if she's able to.

We could have used her help, sure, but since Red was coming along, we should be fine.

Still, even with the three of us, trying to find the idiot would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. If only that moron just stopped for a second and _listened_ to us, none of this mess might have come about.

"Hey. _Hey_! You there? Ugh, c'mon, work with me here!"

I was abruptly brought out of my thoughts by Red's complaints, looking genuinely annoyed. Huh, first time for everything, I suppose.

In any case, I gave her a completely apologetic shrug.

"Sorry. You were saying?"

"... whatever. Here, take this handgun. I know you're missing one."

Red grumbled as she handed me an expensive-looking handgun. It had a sleek shape and honestly looked pretty cool.

Since I gave my old handgun to Emilia, I made do with a machine gun I bought, but I'm still much more used with the traditional handgun. I just never had the opportunity to buy one that I liked and could afford.

This one, named Viper, looked like an excellent gun however. There's just one problem...

"I don't think I have enough to buy this..."

"Don't worry about it. Pay me back later. Or not. I don't care."

"Huh. Thanks."

How oddly generous. This whole situation is bringing out a side of Red I've never seen before. That on its own deserves some kind of payment.

Kidding aside though, this really is a pricey weapon. I may have been slightly exaggerating about how little I have but it'd still drain a considerable amount out of my savings. I'll definitely pay her back.

"Alright. I'll take you out on another date."

"Sure, sure... _Gwuh_?!"

Flustered Red. That's another one I haven't encountered before. Amazing, this has been a day of discovery, among other things.

Still, for her to be caught off guard as easy as _that_ , she seems to be really on edge.

" _Sigh_. At least wait until we find your partner before making jokes like that."

"I'm not joking. I'm paying you back for the gun."

"Hmph. Not joking, huh..."

I might have been kidding around with the whole date thing, but I really do intend to settle that debt. Not just for the gun, but also for the effort she's going through for my sake.

"Tell you what. A little friendly advice. Try taking your _partner_ out first before going around dating people."

Emilia? Well, that was random. I mean, I did promise her before but...

This is all getting a bit confusing.

Before I could ask Red to clarify further, she was already looking over some more weapons. Specifically, the Technics category.

"Techs? Any reason in particular?"

"I figured you'd need all the help you can get."

Thanks a lot.

I was still confused about what she had in mind until she brought me something that instantly shed some light on my thoughts.

Tech-Mags. The only weapon type that didn't need any hands to operate. Using one, I'd still be able to use a weapon with my non-injured arm and use techs at the same time.

That said though, I have no experience with using techs so I probably won't be able to rely on it but it's still nice to have the option.

"This one looks like a little dragon. Alright, I'll pay for this one too."

"Well, if that's what you want..."

That seems about it. We didn't bother buying a shield, since I wouldn't be able to use it yet, anyway.

After the transaction was completed, we met up back with Yut, who we left at the cafe along with some pudding while we went shopping.

"Hey. There seem to be more plates than I remember ordering."

"Hm? Oh! You were taking too long, so I asked for more! The kind lady over there was very helpful!"

Oh dear me. This kid's gonna eat up all of our money just on deserts alone. I don't know whether to be impressed or worried.

After that was taken care off, the three of us made our way to the public transport. Since Emilia took our ship, we had no way else to leave the colony.

"By the way, how about taking a mission while we search?"

Red suggested as we were deciding on which planet to go.

"A mission?"

"So we don't just wander around aimlessly. I know looking for Blondie's important but it couldn't hurt, right?"

She had a point. Rather than just turning every rock we come across, it'd be better to have something to accomplish while we do so.

That way, if we fail to find Emilia, our trip wouldn't be a complete waste. And it gives us a valid reason for taking off should Kraz and/or Ursula find out.

The only problem would be that I'm supposed to be letting my arm heal, but I'm sure we can take care of that problem when it arrives.

So now, the only thing left to decide on is which mission we should take.

"Let's see... A radical Communion faction, seeking the Holy Light for themselves, has occupied an old temple. Quell the fanatics. How's that sound?"

"Neudaiz, huh? Hmm... alright. What do you think, Yut?"

"Do we get to fight strong people while we look for Emilia? Okay!"

"Then that's settled."

After we registered the mission as taken, we got on the transport to Neudaiz, which was the planet where we first met Lumia.

Come to think of it, through meeting Emilia, I've come to all three planets in the Gurhal System quite regularly. That got me into thinking that Emilia could be in any three planets right now.

That is, unless she's just staying in the ship in the middle of space. She'll run out of fuel and food in that case and I don't believe she's stupid enough to do just that.

Of course, when it comes to her making stupid and impulsive decisions, I've learned not to underestimate her.

But in spite of that, she's proven to be reliable when it really matters. And also not to mention, meeting her is the reason I'm able to travel to all these places, meet many different people, and have this strange family that I have now.

"Hey. You have this wistful look on you right now. Thinking of boltie?"

"Yeah. I just realized I should start treating her better."

"Is that so..."

I know I'm not one to talk about relationships with people but looking back on the past couple of weeks, I might not have been the best partner to Emilia.

The folks at Little Wing usually tell me that me becoming her partner has been the best thing that's happened to her. I don't know the details but it's clear her early days were rough.

She's far from the best person, and so am I, but she deserves to be happy too, I believe. I know she's been the one who was most insecure within our little group.

Perhaps that's why she reacted the way she did. We were the first thing she could call family, and her misunderstanding about the situation must have triggered that insecurity tenfold.

"Hmmm. How about this. Instead of taking me out, take Emilia out. Do that and I'll consider that your payment for the stuff I bought."

"Huh? What brought this on?"

"Ehh, nothing much. Just do it, alright?"

"Well, if that's what you want..."

Red keeps being weirder by the minute, but if that's she wants, then who am I to argue? It's just a little surprising, her being considerate to Emilia.

In any case, it certainly would make my job easier if Red and Emilia can coexist peacefully.

"Don't worry, Red! We'll eat pudding instead!"

"Leave me out of your pudding ravaging, creamface."

"Right. Let her drink her milkshake in peace."

" _This_ is how you repay me, coffee boy? I oughta just make you cough up the money instead!"

 **ooo000ooo**

 **III**

 **ooo000ooo**

"I don't smell Mika or Emilia around here. I don't think they're near."

Well, it figures she'd avoid public places.

We arrived in Neudaiz after some time. It's times like these that I feel spoiled by the convenience of having a personal ship.

After confirming with Yut that Emilia isn't within the immediate area, we tried asking around if they'd seen anything, but we didn't have any luck with that.

Looks like the chances of Emilia being on Neudaiz isn't great...

Still, we've got a mission to finish so we decided to head on over to the abandoned temple's coordinates.

"How about it, Yut? Any trace of Emilia?"

"I still can't smell her! She probably didn't come through here either!"

Drat. Well, I'm still holding out a little hope. In the event we don't find any trace of her at all, then at least we've successfully ruled out Neudaiz, or at least this part of it.

I'm determined to pull out every silver lining I can in this trip. With no leads at all, it's all I _can_ do.

"So, Red. You seem awfully quiet today."

"Do I? Well, without Boltie around, it's quite dull, isn't it?"

I'd have to agree. It's not that we're completely silent. It's just that without Emilia, there's not much complaining going around.

And in Red's case, Emilia seems to be the one she has the most fun messing with.

"Oh, that reminds me. You mentioned Boltie was being targeted by Shizuru, right?"

"Yeah. We still don't know _why_ exactly he's after her. Could be because he knows Mika resides within her. No idea why that specifically makes her a target, though."

I don't want to doubt Mika, who's been nothing but helpful to us, but I have a suspicion that she hasn't told us everything we need to know regarding Shizuru's plan.

"Shizuru... he's the man in black, isn't he? And he wants to take Emilia too?"

Oh, right. We haven't said anything to Yut yet besides Emilia running away. That's what you get for running around the place so much.

Yut's expression darkened when I answered his question. Looks like that loss at Mt. Elbars is still fresh in his memory.

"First the Land-Mother, and now Emilia? I can't forgive this! Kara! There are enemies where we're going, right? We need to become stronger!"

"Yeah, we do. But try to control yourself a little, yeah? Emilia told me about what happened at the VR tests."

"Err, okay. But what about you? Can you fight with one arm?"

"I'll manage. And don't change the topic. Stick with us and don't go wild."

"I-I won't! Emilia said she wouldn't buy me more pudding if I did!"

Somehow, I still don't believe you.

And what's this? She's resorting to bribery now? Huh. It must have been harder on her than I thought.

"I know what you're thinking. And trust me, this kid here drove Boltie absolutely nuts."

"I regret what I did and I won't do it again!"

"I don't believe you."

I've had a glimpse of Yut going wild before. Imagining it on full throttle... the thought sends shivers down my spine.

"Oh, and speaking of... I don't think she's in this part of Neudaiz. We're almost at the temple and there's still no sign of her. Or even our ship."

"I see. Well, let's just finish the mission and we'll check if there's something new back in Clad 6."

After several more minutes, we finally arrived at the abandoned temple. It was bigger than I thought, but we should be able to get the job done.

Standing guard on the entrance were two armed soldiers, wielding what seemed to be Tech rods.

"Alright. Let's get this over and done with."

I let Red and Yut go first, seeing as I'm mostly going to play support for now. I summoned my new gun, Viper, but the two already took care of the guards pretty handily.

We had the element of surprise but still, if this is all this radical faction can offer then we may be finished here sooner than I thought.

"You there! What do you think you're doing?!"

Ah, reinforcements. Well, it makes sense. In any case, they're not making it past Yut and Red. I should still help out, though.

I open-fired at the charging armed soldiers, feeling the power behind each shot. This gun is looking to be very worth the price we paid for it.

"Looks like we made the right decision on that gun, one-arm!"

"Don't call me that! That's the last name I'd want to catch on!"

"Take out One-arm first, men! He has a powerful weapon!"

"Damn it, Red!"

Stupid name aside, if they think my gun is the biggest threat on our side, then they've already lost.

They didn't make it any closer when the powerful weapons known as our team's two Hunters started taking them out in record time.

Huh. Come to think of it, our party's got a weird composition. Two Hunters and two Vanguards. And when our guest member Lumia joins, we have a Force. That still leaves us without a Ranger.

Although, I usually fill that role with my guns, and Emilia's pretty much a Force when she's not using her saber and my old handgun. Maybe it's only weird on paper.

"Hey, One-arm, let's go, this area's clear."

"Quit it with the One-arm!"

We made our way deeper into the temple, and took care of more radicals. They didn't pose much of a challenge, though, which upset a certain jungle boy quite a bit.

"We're not getting any proper training out of this! You said we'd face strong enemies!"

"I said we'd face enemies, I never said they were strong. Keep in mind, our real priority here is checking if Emilia's been here or not."

"But she's not! I haven't smelled any of her trace at all!"

"Then let's finish this quickly and get back. We'll take a different mission."

He still didn't seem completely satisfied but he'd have to do for now.

"Hey, heads up, robots like the ones from Inhelt."

Red pointed to some radicals activating robots similar to the spider-bots we encountered before. The ones that charge straight at you and explode when dealt enough damage.

Yut instantly brightened up upon seeing the hideous things and readied his trusty spear.

"Ugh, I hate these things. I'm sticking at the back for this."

"Isn't that what you've been doing already? Whatever. Let's roll, puddingface!"

"Did you say pudding?!"

I ignored Yut's question which may or may not have been serious, and summoned my new Tech-Mag, Dori.

I had reservations at first, but it seemed pretty intuitive to use, almost as if it's instinct. Well, let's give it a go.

"[ **Zonde** ]!"

I used the tech Emilia uses the most, which meant that it was the one I'm most familiar with.

I held out my arm and photon energy gathered around me and concentrated into a ball of electricity in front of Dori. It then fired as a bolt of lightning, smaller and weaker than the ones Emilia uses, but it still did the trick.

The tech hit one of the spider-bots that Red was fighting and electrocuted it pretty harshly. Seems like these ones are Earth-type. Lucky.

Unfortunately for Red, she was fighting it in close range. She managed to avoid the explosion, but looked pretty miffed about it.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Sorry, I'm learning as I go!"

Which was true. These Tech-Mags make it easy for people like with me and Red with low aptitudes for Technics to use them, at the cost of lower power and efficiency.

Well, that's fine. This was intended to be a support weapon, after all.

I readied Viper again and fired a flurry of shots at the dreaded things, with my Tech-Mag providing a steady supply of weaker Zonde bolts.

Soon enough, all of the bots have exploded, much to the annoyance of Red and Yut, but mostly Red.

"Well, look at you, warming up to your new toys."

"Yeah, they're really great. Thanks again for these."

"Guys! One of the soldiers is trying to escape!"

Yut pointed to a radical that was running away. Seems like he was the one that activated the bots and now he's making a run for it. Sensible, with them being destroyed rather easily. But not sensible enough.

I quickly aimed and shot at his leg with a stun bullet, causing him to fall down. We made our way over to him and I had Yut raise him up.

"Hey, have you seen a blonde girl around here? Pink jacket?"

"N-no... Who are you?! Why are you attacking us?!"

Guess she really hasn't been here. It's not that I don't trust Yut but it wouldn't hurt to double or triple check.

"Sorry, pal, it's nothing personal."

"Tell your friends that the One-Armed Bandit is coming!"

"Oh will you stop?"

I hit the side of the soldier's head with the butt of my gun, knocking him out cold. Yut then unceremoniously dropped him on the ground.

The poor guy.

 **ooo000ooo**

 **IV**

 **ooo000ooo**

"This place is bigger than I thought. When you said temple, I didn't think it'd be like this."

Red idly commented as we finished knocking out another group of radical faction soldiers.

I took a look around the place, and I found myself agreeing with her. This place is definitely not your average temple. Makes you wonder why it was abandoned in the first place.

When you think temple, you'd imagine wooden structuring, tiled roofs, typical Neudaizian architecture.

But this place was a mix of that and sleek, high tech interior decorating. And it was huge, almost like a maze.

And it doesn't help that the radicals don't seem to run out. They just keep coming and coming, and although they aren't much of a threat, it's still pretty exhausting.

"Say, don't you think Kraz might be looking for us?"

"I don't think so. If he really wanted to talk to us, he can just call us through comms."

Besides, Kraz is probably too busy trying to find anything that'll help us find Emilia that it's possible he hasn't even noticed us leave.

I've recently come to learn that despite his gruff exterior, he really cares about Emilia. I wouldn't call him a big softie, but the concern is there.

"Hey... what's that? Looks like more enemies!"

Oh for the love of... these guys just seem to come out of the clockwork, don't they?

We got ready to fight once again, but as the enemies got closer, we noticed something different about them.

First off, they were tall. Not quite as tall as the robots from Mt. Elbars, but these were twice Red's height.

"You didn't need to say it!"

"Oh did I say that out loud? Sorry."

Second, they didn't seem to be piloted armor. They were robots in their own right, but their movements can trick you into thinking otherwise.

Sinow Hidoki. I've read about these before. Deadly, twin dagger-wielding droids that are as fast as they are powerful. And there were three of them.

I tightened my grip on Viper. Looks like this is gonna be a step up from the radicals we were beating up.

"Split up!"

I issued the order and jumped away from the others, drawing one of the Sinows to me. We'd definitely be overpowered in close quarters if we fight in groups, so separate one-on-ones it is.

I trust Red and Yut's combat abilities enough but the problem here is that not only is my opponent physically stronger than me, I've got access to one less limb compared to it.

Well, I don't have to win. I just have to hold out until the others can help me.

I fired off a combo of bullets and Zondes at it, but it easily evaded or blocked them, and leapt straight at me.

Alright then, ranged isn't gonna cut it. I switched Viper for my saber and rolled out of the way. Immediately I had to try and parry several quick dagger swings.

"[ **Zonde** ]!"

I had my Tech-Mag fire a lightning bolt at the droid as I started to get overwhelmed, forcing it to dodge and retreat back a small distance.

I took the chance and went on the attack with my saber, but the Sinow's superior agility made it difficult to connect even once.

"Hey, I might need a little assist here!"

"Little busy, this thing is tougher than it looks!"

I didn't get the chance to take a look at their current status, but I've heard some of her attacks hit so she must be at least having better luck than me. Not that that surprises me.

Yut, on the other hand, basically ignored me and continued dancing with the robot. That kid has issues but he's definitely talented in the fighting department.

Though, that still leaves me with a bit of a predicament.

I can't damage my opponent whatsoever, and sooner or later, it's gonna wise up to my strategy of Zonde keep-away... I have to slow it down.

That's it!

I lured the Sinow into attacking me head on again, and as I steadily lost the ability to deflect its rapid attacks, I started gathering photon energy through my Tech-Mag.

But instead of the yellow energy that signifies Electric techs, blue energy swirled around me.

"[ **Zalure** ]!"

The icy aura quickly transferred to and enveloped the Sinow Hidoki's form, freezing it in some places and causing it to slow down quite a bit.

The Zalure is an Ice-type Technic that uses frost to lower an enemy's defense, evasion, and most importantly, speed. That makes it the perfect tech to use against an opponent like this. Good thing I chose this particular tech to install in Dori, along with Zonde.

With the advantage firmly in my grasp, I went on the offensive again. But this time, it wasn't me being overwhelmed. The droid tried to block and evade, but due to Zalure, I was just a little bit faster. And with its lowered defenses, I steadily inflicted heavy damage on its armor.

It tried jumping away as soon as it got too damaged to continue fighting, but I quickly switched to Viper and pelted it with bullets, blowing off huge chunks of its body and ultimately finishing it off.

"[ **Zonde** ]!"

I then turned around and fired off a bolt that hit the back of the droid Red was fighting, stunning it long enough for her to quickly dismantle it with her double saber.

She looked at me with an unimpressed expression as she dismissed her weapon.

"I had that handled."

"I'm sure. But let's not waste time."

Just as I turned to check how Yut was doing, a badly mangled Sinow Hidoki landed beside me, full of holes and most certainly not functioning.

"That it? I can handle more!"

We really need to get this kid a hobby.

"Th-those monsters! Retreat!"

A group of radicals shouted out from somewhere, along with the sound of footsteps disappearing.

Now that's just rude.

Well, whatever. No way to go but forward. We must be getting close to the end now.

"Hey! Get back here!"

"No, _you_ get back here! No running off!"

"I-I wasn't going to!"

Yes, you were.

But at the very least, we were able to stop him. Those radicals might not be the most dangerous enemies out there, but that's beside the point.

It's about ingraining good habits. Geez, I sound like a teacher.

And besides, these people may have some sort of trap waiting for us. I've no doubt that word of our presence is already circulating around this place, with the sheer amount of radicals we've defeated over the past half-hour or so.

We continued on, and we arrived at what appeared to be a long corridor, with walkways at the top filled with radicals equipped with staffs.

See? A trap.

"They're here! Fire!"

The radicals all chanted simultaneously, and fired off several Barta techs at us.

"Huh. Isn't it a bit weird how they said 'Fire!' and then they blast us with ice?"

"Worry about that later and get out of the way!"

Red reprimanded as she deflected the Bartas with her double saber, with Yut doing the same with his spear.

I resorted to just avoiding them entirely. I didn't have a shield or a weapon capable of blocking, and the Bartas weren't that fast anyway.

"[ **Foie** ]!"

"Ah, there we go. Much more fitting."

"What are you mumbling about? Hurry up and take them out!"

"What's with you? Why don't you do it yourself then?"

Ah, wait, she doesn't have a ranged weapon, does she?

Red must have noticed I realized this, as she gave me a rather irritated look. After a few more seconds of avoiding fire and ice, it seemed like she finally had enough.

The gun-less redhead started making her way up to the radicals firing at us through a series of leaps. She even did a few wall-jumps here and there.

What a show-off.

"You cowards! Come down here and fight properly!"

"Hey, here's an idea, Yut, use your bow."

"Ah, right! Gotcha!"

Yut made a face of enlightenment as he switched his spear for his rarely-seen bow.

Wait. I was just messing around, but did he seriously not think of that?

Eh, nevermind. I summoned Viper and started firing at the radicals, taking them out one by one.

Soon enough, they were all knocked unconscious. Thankfully, none of them fell down.

Red came back down as I dismissed my weapon and seemed a little displeased.

"Couldn't you have done that from the start?"

"I could... but where's the fun in that?"

"Fun, right. _Sigh_. We really need to get Boltie back, you're being very strange since she ran off."

I have no idea what she's talking about.

"Th-they're here! The One-Armed Bandit's coming! Prepare the Adahna Degahna!"

"Ugh. How did that even catch on this fast?!"

Red snickered at me, probably satisfied that I got my comeuppance for annoying her. Well, annoying her is her comeuppance for propagating that name so...

What goes around comes around, I guess. It's a vicious cycle.

"Well, looks like the next room's the last. Let's get this over with."

 **ooo000ooo**

 **V**

 **ooo000ooo**

"Huh, this room's certainly huge. Dead end too."

Past the trapped corridor lay a room that was larger than any of the others we've come across to. Almost seemed like a... testing ground of some sort.

Nevermind that, though. If this was really the end, then it's safe to bet that the ringleaders would be around here somewhere.

That is, if they haven't escaped already. But I doubt that. We've given them almost no time to plan a getaway, and Yut can probably smell them if they tried. _Probably_.

And besides, the mission details said clear out the temple. Does it really matter how we do it? With our personal reasons for being here now well and truly for naught, we just want to finish up and return to Clad 6.

"Hmm... it's a bit quiet. Didn't those radicals say something about an Adagana, or something?"

No, I'm pretty sure it was Anada Degadana. I seem to recall hearing two words.

Yut looked confused as Red raised an eyebrow at me. What, was that not it?

Suddenly, our silent but meaningful conversation was interrupted when the ceiling started opening up with a loud whirr.

"Wait, is that...? Look out!"

Inside the new hole in the ceiling was a large brown robot, completely dwarfing. And it abruptly dropped down to where we were standing.

The huge metallic behemoth, the Adanada Dega, towered over us as it activated its weapons.

"Aha! This should be a challenge!"

Well, Yut was proven right moments later when a swarm of missiles was released from the robot and came straight towards us.

I quickly summoned Viper and Dori, firing at the ones I could with bullets and Zondes. The missiles weren't _that_ strong, but catch them all at once and it probably will leave a mark.

I managed to destroy most of them before they could hit us, with Red managing to somehow slice at them and leap away before she could be caught in the explosion.

Yut, not so much.

"Gah!"

"Yut, be careful! We don't have a healer!"

Thankfully, the missiles didn't seem to do lethal damage to him, and he probably managed to make them explode prematurely.

Still, without Emilia's Resta, or even Lumia's Deband to beef up our defenses, we'll have to play cautiously.

"It's charging at us! It's got rocket boosters on its back so don't underestimate its speed and power!"

"Don't meet it head on, jungle boy!"

"I wasn't going to! I'm not an idiot!"

I don't know, with Emilia unavailable, someone's gonna have to fill in.

That aside, the Agada Negada may have had momentum, but it certainly didn't have good turning capabilities. It was fast, but once we got out of the way, we were pretty much in the clear for the moment.

With its back turned, Yut took the opening and thrust with his spear.

"Gh! The armor's tough! I can't pierce through!"

Unfortunately, he bounced off. Red tried next but all she managed to do was make a few sparks fly from the plating.

Looks like we might need some buffs for this one. Good thing we have the perfect combination for it!

"Red, cast Shifta on us!"

"Got it. [ **Shifta** ]!"

Red summoned her own Tech-Mag, and the now familiar rush of heat enveloped our bodies, along with the mild red aura that signified our attacks being boosted.

And now for the other side...

"[ **Zalure** ]!"

I pointed my Tech-Mag at the giant and fired off a blue ball of concentrated photon energy. It hit its mark and immediately covered it with a thin layer of frost and a dim blue outline.

As if to say we've taken our turn, one of the Gada Ganada's arms opened up to reveal a positively large gun barrel. Which then started rotating.

"Ah."

"What do you mean 'ah', that's a freakin' machinegun! Run like hell!"

"But isn't that cool?"

"Cool... Geez, when did _I_ become the sensible one?"

Geez, when did _you_ become the sensible one?

That little banter was cut short when the barrel finished warming up and fired a gigantic scatter shot at us continuously, the spray of bullets reaching us almost immediately.

Shit, I really wish I still had my shield right about now.

Red switched to her twin sabers and performed a combination of evading and blocking. Yut looked like he got hit several times, groaning every now and then but he tried his best at blocking with a spear and dodging.

As for me...

"Ah, god damn it!"

I switched to my saber, but what the hell can I do? Even with backup Zondes, I still got pelted quite a bit.

Thank the Holy Light for Shield-Weaves. The bullets didn't manage to draw blood but they're sure as hell gonna leave bruises all over.

Luckily, most of the bullets went past us and into the day far wall. A common consequence for using scatter shots.

"Hey, One-arm! Doin' alright there?!"

"New plan, get in close! Don't let it use that again!"

Without a healer, we can't risk taking such an attack again. Red and Yut heeded my order and went in close, attacking on different sides. I switched to Viper, which was significantly more powerful than my current saber, and fired off several shots.

Our attacks did more than clang uselessly this time, but still, even with a Shifta-Zalure combo, they didn't do as much damage as I thought they would.

Strange, almost as if...

"Red! Our Shifta's been dispelled!"

"What? How?"

"The bullets! They must have infused them with whatever tech lowers attack!"

It was the only attack that managed to hit us after we've casted our buffs, so that was probably how it did it.

Unfortunately for us, the Denagada Naganada figured that was a good time to end our discussion and produced a massive whip from its other arm.

Succeeding in creating distance once more through the whip, it fired off another salvo of missiles at us, following up with preparing another scatter shot.

Great it's even doing combos now.

"[ **Flaming Roar** ]!"

A massive torrent of flames enveloped the giant robot, stopping its attempt to spray is again.

Good one, Yut!

"What's the plan now, then?"

"Recast Shifta now, and stick close to the Adanada Degada!"

"Is that even its name?!"

"Naganana Deganana!"

"You didn't even try anymore!"

Regardless of her complaints, Red put us under Shifta again and retried her assault on the thing. Yut also seemed to have finished his cooldown went back in.

It tried the whip again, but it failed to catch anyone off guard anymore. I pitched in with a round of bullets, not doing that much damage until one of them hit it on the head, causing the lumbering robot to recoil back.

"The head has weaker armor! Aim there!"

I started charging up for a powerful blast, but the robot covered its newly found weakspot with its arms. Also of note was that its chest started steadily glowing brighter and brighter, almost mimicking my charging.

That means we need to finish it off now.

"Hah!"

Yut leapt up and thrust at the head with a lot of force, almost tilting the thing sideways. The attack blew up several components of the mechanical giant, causing it to lose power in the arm it was using as cover.

It pointed its other arm and started charging for yet another round of bullets, but Red stopped that cold with a cross slash using her twin sabers.

The barrel held on, but the interference caused it to cease function, giving me a wide open look at its vulnerable head.

A few moments later, its head was blasted off. It lost the power it was gathering immediately, causing several mini explosions, before finally crashing down with a resounding thud.

"You radicals just got one-armed!"

"And you just had to run it, didn'tcha?"

Someday, I'm gonna pay back Kraz for coming up with that stupid nickname.

"Th-the Adahna Degahna! They destroyed it! Th-they're not human!"

Ah, so _that's_ how you say it.

And technically, they're one-third right. Red's human, but I'm a beast. And Yut's half-half beast and newman.

Well, they've got every right to be afraid, I suppose. We just destroyed what was probably their secret weapon. Albeit with some difficulty, I'll give them that.

"You! Have you seen Emilia?!"

"I-I don't know who that is!"

Yut was interrogating a terrified radical soldier, who would have been confused if he wasn't so busy shaking.

"Emilia's a girl! I think... She has yellow hair! Have you seen her? We really need to find her!"

"We haven't! Please don't hurt us!"

"Hey, calm down there, Yut. Let's go, we're already done here. Isn't that right, Mr. radical faction soldier, sir?"

I turned to the soldier with the most non-threatening expression I could make. It had the opposite effect.

"Wh-what do you want?! D-don't kill us, I beg you!"

"What do I want, huh... Well, she's not here so we need something else..."

"He's the One-Armed Bandit~! Here to beat you up, destroy your things, and ruin your radical day! Isn't he _fantastic_? Also, take us to your leader."

Yut then dropped him like he did the last guy, and he then nodded rapidly before scuttling off to what I presume to be their leader's location.

Well, that works but...

"Damn it, Red."

Red only sniggered in response.


End file.
